Invisible Ties of Fate
by KimranReech
Summary: She was a prisoner of her Fate. No matter which Route life would take, she always succumbed to the same destiny which would repeat in every world no matter the differences. That's how it was written, but what if someone other who shared a similar Fate and who overcame it, extends his hand to her? Will their Invisible Ties be strong enough, to again, change Fate for the better?
1. A Coat of Change

_**AN:**_

_**Hello good reader and welcome to the first Chapter of "Invisible Ties of Fate" This is not only my first attempt at writing a fan fiction, but at writing in general. Yes, I never wrote anything at all. I further should mention that English is not my native language and I would appreciate every help and correction I can get. Well, before you start thinking too much about why someone tries to write a story in another language if he hasn't even written one in his own let's start this story and I hope you have at least a little bit fun.**_

_**You should know at least a little about the Fate series to fully unterstand this story. I try to explain some things as good as I can, but that has it limits if you have no idea about the universe and the workings of it. **_

_**A Big thank you to **_**_Arrixam for beta reading this story.  
_**

**_Edited: 25/09/2015- _****_Just some corrections and rephrasings._**

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

**_Chapter 1: A Coat of Change_**

_Revenge_. That is all she wanted. Revenge at the man who has abandoned her.

Revenge against the man who was the reason for her never seeing her mother again.

Revenge at the man who she had once called father.

She wanted to crush him, to hurt him, to show him the hatred she felt for everything he had done to her.

And soon she would get her chance.

The name of the man she wanted revenge at, more than she wanted to even keep breathing, was _Emiya Kiritsugu_.

The Magus Killer.

One of the only survivor of the 4th Holy Grail War and once known to her as loving father.

But it was all a lie.

He abandoned her without looking back, he used her and her mother for his own egoistic goals.

She knew it, because…he never came back.

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

Five long years had passed since the man and her mother had left the girl behind to participate in what was known as the _Holy Grail War. _

A tournament to the death, only known by one special group of the population – _Magi _– even among them only certain individuals knew about the specifics that surrounded the mystery that was the Holy Grail War. Even fewer will ever get the chance to participate in it.

And this may be the luckiest these individuals shall ever be in their short lives.

_Why, you ask? _

Well, because there are two facts about the Holy Grail War which are universally known by every Magi.

The winner will get his most desired wish granted, whatever it may be.

World domination, learning all the truth of the world or even becoming a hero of justice, everything was possible.

_This sounds great doesn't it? _

_It certainly does_, at least if you are oblivious to the second fact every Magi knows…or should know.

In the tournament known as the _Holy Grail War_ there can only be _one _winner.

In a tournament where the price is an omnipotent wish granting object, _there will be_ only one winner.

_You still don't get it?_ Then let me ask you.

To which lengths would you go to attain your deepest and most important desire? Would you give your life for it? Would you give the lives of others for it? Would you spill the blood of innocents or would you try to stand by your feeble excuse for honor and only end the lives of those who have, in your eyes, fortified it anyway by participating in this _Holy War_?

Whatever reason there is, it is not important. Whatever wish there is, it doesn't matter.

At least not for the little girl who draws for the fifths time this day a magic circle on the cold stone floor of a castle which stands hidden, deep in a snowy white forest, which no unwanted eyes will ever reach if not allowed.

The little girl's hair is as white as the snow that covers seemingly everything outside the many tall and wide windows of the castle.

Her eyes are as red as the purest ruby and they glow as bright as the hatred that shines through them every time she thinks about the man who has betrayed her.

She didn't have a wish for the Holy Grail, she only had her own ambitions and the Holy Grail War was the tool for her to achieve them.

But that is only what _she_ wanted, what _she_ desired.

Her _family, _one of the oldest magi families that exist to this day, had other plans.

They wanted to win the _Holy Grail War _at all cost, to reduce the shame that _they_ think had befallen the family, which was one of the initial founders of the _Holy Grail War_ many, many years ago.

The 'shame' was that they had been unable to achieve even the slightest triumph over the other founding families in the previous wars, let alone to win the Grail.

They too didn't have a wish for the Grail, they too only had their ambitions. The only difference was…that _she _was their tool this time.

In the last war it had been her father, who hadn't only betrayed her and her mother, but had in a ludicrous manner heightened the shame of the _family _by abandoning the grail for unknown reasons after it was already in his grasps.

_For unknown reasons._

But the little girl didn't care.

For her there was no way to justify the actions of the man who abandoned her.

He was evil, an enemy, a traitor and a false snake.

That was all he was for her now.

And soon he wouldn't even be that anymore.

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

_**Einzbern Castle, Germany, year 2000**_

It was a little more than one year later, on a cold afternoon, that she was called to her _grandfather's _study.

Old Man Acht, or so he was called by some, was a rather strict looking man, with white hair and a beard who let one think at a frozen waterfall of all things.

His strictness wasn't surprising as he was the current head of the Einzbern family and the responsibility for the success of the family rested alone on his shoulders.

That though didn't make him more likeable in her eyes.

'_And there were some oblivious reasons for that too…'_ she thought as Old Man Acht started to address her.

"Illyasviel…", he spoke her name without emotion."…I have been reported that your performance in your training yesterday was inadequate and your lack of seriousness was quite noticeable," his calm, almost impassive voice carried a hint of furiosity that anyone who didn't known him as long as Illyasviel would have missed. She stared at him impassive as she waited for him to continue, she knew that she didn't have the right to speak yet, but it was admittedly hard for her to hold her tongue.

'_I have been reported?' _what a bad joke, she thought. Sella her magecraft teacher would never double-cross her…she and her other maid Leysritt were the closest thing she had left to what resembled a family and it was not much.

'_Even if this may only be because we all are the same…'_ her thoughts were interrupted as Old Man Acht started to speak again.

"To get slack is not acceptable, the next Holy Grail War is only a few years away and I will not accept another failure this time around, you will not disappoint me like _this _man did. You will not be a failure…" her skin prickled for a moment at the mentioning of _him. _

"…Your only purpose is to reach the Holy Grail - there are no other things to worry about. Have I made myself clear?"

This was the cue for her to start speaking or to be more accurate, to start agreeing.

"Yes, I understand grandfather, I will not fail you," she said in a respectful manner.

"Good, I will not expect anything less from you than to catch up on what you have missed yesterday and to work even harder in the coming week," he stared her in the eyes for a moment, straight and rather forceful, and she again felt the warning.

"You can go now and devote yourself to your evening studies," he said while moving his body for the first time in the conversation as he gestured her to the door with a short wave of his hand.

Of course, he hadn't asked _why_ she didn't work as hard yesterday or _why_ she was distracted enough to be noticed, but she had never expected him to.

As commanded she rose from the chair she sad on, a rather noble looking red pattered armchair which was quite comfortable she had to admit. It was certainly sad that the most enjoyable part of meeting the man who was, if only technical, her grandfather was the seating.

'_Only a thing more for why I loathe __**him**__, abandoning me in this place of all things,' _she thought darkly.

She closed the dark wooden door to her grandfather's study carefully and proceeded to strode onwards along the grey and cold corridor of the Einzbern castle right to her personal chambers.

To her annoyance the only thing she could think about this night was the day before…her _birthday_.

She didn't really deem this day special and didn't care all that much for it, but to her surprise her maids Sella and Leysritt had happily gratulated her, and both had tried to make the day more pleasant for her without someone noticing, which seemed like it hadn't worked so well in the end.

She was first reluctant to their ideas, she never had much motivation while being in this dark and gloomy castle, but her childish side could not be suppressed for long and she happily played some offered games with the two maids who even if they looked a little out of place seemed genuine pleased to see her happy.

As sleep finally claimed her there was one final thought that crept to her unprotected and tired mind before she fell into a deep slumber.

'_Would every day be like yesterday, if __**he**__ was still with me?'_

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

What she couldn't have known in the night almost three years ago was that this would be her last happy birthday for a long time. She didn't knew if Old Man Acht had instructed her maids to not longer distract her with such an unimportant event, or if there was another reason, but the outcome was that she never experienced a happy day like this again.

It didn't matter to her anymore.

A few weeks back Old Man Acht had told her that the exact date, as exact as it was possible anyway, of the next Holy Grail War was known and that it was not even a year away.

She couldn't stop her body from shaking for at least a week.

_Soon. _Soon would the time come when she would get her revenge.

In a little while, the day when her life would get a purpose would arrive.

And after that, after she got her revenge she would deliver the long awaited triumph to her _family _and then her life would…_end_.

Maybe, just maybe…she could see her mother again after that.

'_Everything will be over soon,'_ she told herself.

Even if she would fail to become the grail, her end would come sooner or later anyway…that was the fate of a homunculus. Sella and Leysritt her original maids both died shortly one after another not even a year ago, they had only reached the age of four.

Illyasviel on the other hand was not like a normal homunculi. She was_ special, _her lifespan was more than five times longer than theirs, but even her end lays not in the too distant future.

But this didn't matter if she would achieve her goal.

'_And I'm now one step closer,'_ she thought as her glance fell on the red symbol on her right hand, which almost seemed as if it was a part of the skin.

A _Command Spell, _only granted by the Holy Grail itself to mark the persons it deems worthy to participate as so called _Masters _in the war.

Only a Master could participate in the war, only a Master could summon a _Servant_ to fight with and only a Master could claim the Holy Grail to utter their deepest wish to get it granted.

And she would without a doubt, be the strongest Master in the war.

She was created this way, to be perfect, to be the strongest tool which would bring the Holy Grail back to the Einzbern family.

This was the reason for her existence. This was the reason why her life would be no longer than that of a young man who leaves the house of his parents to life on his own for the first time. That's because a long and happy life for her was not one of the things that was wished for, as she was _created_.

Sure, her mother loved her and she thought her _father_ loved her, but they were both long gone each for different reasons. With both her maids gone there was no one left who cared for her.

But she needed no one anymore, because she was strong. The strongest mage that ever existed in her family, her magical capacity alone dwarfed everything her family members could muster in comparison.

It was enough that, if she wanted, she could separately crush anyone of them.

But what for? She had nowhere to go. She never was in the outside world before. There was no one she could turn to.

She was alone.

All her strength could only be used to achieve her ambitions and the ones of her family. She was perfect in many senses, but there was still no one who understood her.

'_I stand above them all so of course no one would understand me, they are not worthy,'_ she thought with an fake arrogant smile on her face.

What she didn't realize was that someone who knew her would see how feigned the expression really was.

To her luck or misfortune there was no one on this world who could understand her like that.

_Yet._

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

'_Faster…faster…please move faster!' _she thought as she tried to urge her body forward through the maze like forest without any sense of direction or clear destination in mind.

Her whole body was in pain as she stumbled through the death trap in which she was trapped in for hours now.

The sun began to set and slowly but steadily vanished not only the dim light of the forest, but the freezing cold of the night came forth and made the forest an even deadlier place to be, than it already was.

She had run for hours through the frozen and snow-covered landscape, being dressed only in a white nightgown without anything that remotely resembled shoes or even socks on her feet, this was not something that even a homunculi could shrug of easily

Being a homunculi had many advantages.

She didn't need to eat and drink if she didn't want to, she needed very little sleep, her body was highly resistant compared to a human one and she didn't even age like a normal human.

Well, the advantage of the last one was quite arguable when your body looked like a ten year old girl for the rest of your life, but that was beside the point.

However, even a homunculi had its limits.

In particularly when the freezing cold was the least bit of worries she could have at this moment.

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"

As the sound of the growl reached her ears, her body had already started to respond to the by now well-known sign of immediate danger. She threw her body to the left without thinking and ended up smacking hard against a tree.

Still, her quick reaction was all that saved her as a pair of razor sharp fangs barley missed her left leg and rushed forward in a nearby snow heap instead. She stumbled for a moment on the uneven ground before she regained her footing again and managed to turn to the threat that had almost claimed one of her limbs in its assault.

Rubin red stared in dark brown as the creature which had seemingly recovered from its failed attempt to attack her fixated her with its gaze and let out another threatening growl.

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"

Now that she could see the creature clearly she recognized it instantly. A black furred wolf which, according to her knowledge, was a good piece larger than any normal wolf you would encounter around the world.

The wolf had, by closer observation, some red spots on the right side of its fur which seem to gleam if faced in the right angle of light.

_Blood._

The problem was, the blood was not its.

Her body had reacted not only on instinct, but on experience.

Experience that she had now gathered for hours.

It was not the first beast that tried to claim her life on this day. The many bruises and bloody cuts on her body did clearly display this to any none-existent onlooker.

And it would not be the last one to try.

This, she was sure about.

It didn't manage to hurt her in its earlier attack which meant that the blood had already been there. It must be a survivor of a pack she already encountered.

_Survivor, _since she wiped them all out; or at least she thought she did, but it appeared that this was not the case. There was only one thing she could do now.

_Kill._

She would kill it like the rest. No matter how unreal big the wolf was and how dangerous it would be to a normal human.

Against her it was nothing.

There was no hope for it on its own.

Her magical energy – _her Od,_ was still immensely high even after a whole day using magic for battle and surviving, she didn't need to bother about it.

But to her regret magical energy was not the only thing that mattered. The deadly cold of the forest and the hour long running and fighting tugged at her endurance.

She was tired, dead tired.

And while her body was more resistant than a human one, it was still only the body of a fragile little girl.

Her legs were shacking from the forceful effort to keep standing and her breath came in hard fast gasps.

As strong as she was with her magecraft, if the enemy was numerous enough or catched her by surprise, she could still be overwhelmed.

Most of the wounds on her body were repercussions of this. Other however, she had trouble to admit, were sustained from her toppling over some branches and snow piles while running away from the battlefields while putting some distance between her and the beasts which would be drawn to the fresh corpses and spilled blood.

Many could pose a problem, but it was alone so her best option was to kill it silently and fast before it could lure other beasts to her location.

With a quick yank some strands of her snow white hair was plucked out and she kept it in her to an fist closed hand while pointing at the black wolf.

She exhaled and inhaled deeply once, while searching for a moment of inner calm over the wolf's loud growling. Just as the wolf had apparently enough of their drawn out staring contest, she started to speak in a clear and authoritative voice.

"Ich bin eins, ich bin alles. Mein Körper ist mein Schild und mein Wille ist meine Waffe."

The strands of hair in her fist were starting to glow in a bright white light as they were pumped full with her _Od_. She opened her hand and while the glowing strands were floating slowly to the ground she spoke the last command.

"Degen!"

At once the form of the hair changed, it became larger and started assembeling itself together to form a wire construct striking similar to a sword. With only a wave of her hand the sword like construct flew towards the side of the incoming wolfs body and dug deep into its flesh.

The rush of the beast stopped at once, as its body was pinned to the ground by the silver glowing weapon. Only a yelp escaped its with razor sharp fangs filled maw before the strength leaved the beasts body and it collapsed unmoving to its side.

She didn't lower her arm so much as it just fell on its own. Her breathing was heavy as she looked at the large blood stained spot below her right arm, approximately in height of her armpit. Where one of the larger gashes, she had received beforehand, apparently ripped open due to her earlier movements.

'_I must have forgotten about it because of the __adrenalin rush __I was in,'_ she thought darkly as she tried to move her arm without so much as a week twitch and a lot of pain as a result.

She hissed and cursed under her breath.

'_And now I can't move it at all anymore, just fantastic,'_ a bitter smile crept on her face at the thought, but she could not linger in this place where the corpse of the slain beast would attract others.

So, she again forced her sore limbs to move, while holding onto her now useless right arm and started to run. She leaped over snow piles and roots, dodged any branch that would hinder her progress and just kept on running onwards until she found herself stopping on the border of a clearing.

The exact clearing she needed to find.

The place, that was partial the reason for her being in this nightmare.

As she couldn't spot any other beast in the vicinity and only quietness could be heard from the surroundings she let herself drop on a nearby root and tried to rest for a moment. While she sat there for a few minutes unmoving and in silence like this; calmness finally settled in and the events of the day came rushing back to her.

How did it even come to this?

Of course she knew, because well, she had been there.

But it felt all so surreal to her.

Today was only three weeks after her _Command Spell_ had appeared. She knew that the preparations for the _summoning ritual_ were almost complete and that it was necessary for her to finish the last preparations herself before she could try performing it.

She also knew that it was highly unusual to attempt a Summon this long before the Holy Grail War even started. Particularly, because to summon a servant just weeks before the war, was highly uncommon.

And she would attempt more than _half a year._

She didn't know if this was possible at all, but on the other hand her Command Spell had already appeared so why shouldn't it be? And even if it was difficult or more costly, her magical capacity was not so big for nothing.

Surely, if there was any chance to accomplish it _she_ would have the best chances to do it.

Her _family_, or more precisely her grandfather and the other elders, seemed to think exactly the same way. They prepared not only magical knowledge, but they also had undergone the endeavor to actually try and cheat by manipulating the workings of the Grail System itself.

Where every other magi family would certainly fail horrible, they conveyed the possibility to accomplish the task, which only a family could manage that was tied to the creation of the Holy Grail itself.

What_ luck_ that they were one of these founding families.

But these things didn't really matter to her. She would never hear or see the important things that her family had undergone to manipulate the grail and they would never show it to her either, since there was always the possibility for her being captured and interrogated by another Master or even by the mage association if they noticed something act worthy.

And the knowledge was more precious than her.

Unfortunately for her there was some information that she was prompted to know. If she wanted to or not.

Just this morning she was called to one of the more obscure rooms of the castle, a dim lit research facility where most of the confidential magical experiments and researches were carried out.

She was to her shock instantly magical constrained after walking through the entrance of the room.

She couldn't move, she couldn't even protest or curse as she had been picked up by some to her unknown magi from the _family_ and had been strapped to something that resembled vaguely a stretching bank. She remembered how she wanted to yell at them for treating her like this.

Sure, she was always treated harshly be it during training or in general and she was already accustomed to it, shrugging it off most of the time, but to not even know what was happening and why it was happening was just too much, even for her.

So as she had lain there on the table like object unable to move or to speak, the only things she had seen and heard were the to and fro walking magi whose conversations she, for the most part, couldn't hear because they had talked in hushed voices and were out of earshot most of the time.

The minutes had dragged on and the not happening of anything had become unbearable after a while.

That's when dark and erratic thoughts had started to creep to her mind.

'_Have they deemed me worthless?_

'_Do they want to get rid of me?'_

'_What __**is **__their intention to do with me?'_

Luckily, before she could started to think more deeply about it, explicitly the last one, the big wooden door of the room had opened with a loud creak and her grandfather, Old Man Acht had walked into the room.

He had only spared her a quick glance while walking by and had started to ask the unknown magi if everything was ready since the next part of the procedure needed to begin on time after this one was complete.

She hadn't known what they were talking about.  
'_A procedure? For what? Has this something to do with the Holy Grail War?' _she really had not even the faintest idea at that time.

But now, not quite twelve hours later, a part of her wished that she never found out.

Because she had soon learnt what the _first _procedure was about.

They told her that a major part of finishing the summoning ritual was to enable the connection between Master and Servant to be at his best and most stable; so that the power of the Servant would reach his highest potential and the chance of an early summon would be improved.

For this and the general control over a Servant a _Command Spell_ was needed, but the normal one didn't delivered the result they wanted. It was not enough.

This was the moment when she had understood why she was intercepted and had been strapped on the bank.

They had thought she would refuse.

That she would run away from the chance to accomplish her ambitions, just because of some pain and hardship. They were wrong, but they hadn't known that. So they had taken safety measures to assure that her _tool_ had no ways to complain or escape.

And so the first part of the procedure had started and they had carved countless fabricated _Command Spells_ on almost her whole front body. She would never give in to something like this, but secretly she had to admit that she was happy that it hadn't been possible for her to cry during the procedure because of the magical restrains.

So she had at least kept her honor in this regard. The other one was kind of violated by just working on her body.

Because this hadn't been possible with her having clothes on.

However, she didn't care, if this was what was needed for her to get her revenge then she wouldn't object.

After that her restrains were loosened and her grandfather had begun talking to her about the _second _part of the procedure.

She remembered how dizzy she still had been and how strained she had felt after the long _operation _on her body and magic circuits. She had just sat there and listened while trying to regain a clear head and full control over her body again.

He had told her about the importance of the right time and place for the Summon. How everything would aid her in Summoning the strongest Servant with the highest potential this soon before the war, if done correct and how she couldn't afford any mistake.

The best place for the summoning; so they had calculated, would be a forest clearing just outside the Einzbern castle which history was spiritual connected to the Einzbern family and where many ley-lines were crossing.

The best time for her to try the Summon would be at dusk where her magical power would be at its highest.

If it was just that, there would be no problem and she had tried to indicate to her grandfather that she had understood and that she would not fail him.

She didn't knew if he even noticed her attempts, but just then had her grandfather fixed her with his cold and steel hard gaze and said:

"That is all that is important for Summoning a Servant who will allow us to win the war, but if you are not even capable of achieving the rest of the way on your own…you are useless,"

He had started to elaborate on the task that would lie before her.

She would first have to find the forest clearing on her own. There, a stone piece of an old Greek temple would await her, with which she would attempt to summon her Servant exactly at dusk.

Only if she came back with her Servant was she to show her face again, if she couldn't accomplish that then she wasn't welcome anymore in the Einzbern _family_.

She was thrown in the forest shortly after that, only covered in her nightgown that she thankfully was allowed to put on again after the _Command Spell_ operation.

She was tired, badly hurt and was even full of panic at one point, but she had made it. She had arrived at her destination. The sun had already started to set and dusk was only minutes away. The only thing she needed to do now was to draw the magic circle and attempt the summoning.

As she rose from her sitting place she could hardly believe it.

She had done it. She really had done it.

This was the final step of her preparation for getting her revenge. After she had summoned her Servant she could finally go and kill the man who had abandoned her.

The long years of harsh training and unloved hours of solitude would finally pay off.

A malicious grin crept on her face as she thought about the things she would do to the man while slowly kill him.

The thoughts made her feel so warm inside like she hadn't been for hours now.

As she dragged herself to the center of the clearing, she could see the described stone piece which was to her surprise in form of a giant clunky stone sword.

'_Or was it an axe instead?'_ she really had no idea.

The only thing she knew was that this monstrosity of a weapon would be impossible for a human to carry, let alone fight with.

'_Servants are truly beings of a higher existence unmatched by anything currently alive; and mine, if his legends speak only a fracture of the truth, will undoubtedly be the greatest of them all,'_ she thought with a smug smile on her face while kneeling in the snow besides the giant axe-sword. She started to draw the necessary magic circle for the Summon with her blood, which ironical she didn't need to hurt herself for, since she already had enough wounds to submit the needed amount easily.

The magical circle was nothing special or even hard to create, especially since she had practiced drawing it countless times over the last years. So, as her concentration was only half heartedly on drawing the circle her mind again began to wander to the Servant she planned to summon with this ritual.

_Heracles,_ the greatest hero in Greek mythology. A Servant whose fame and glory was unrivaled by all but a handful of others in all of the legends and myths mankind gave birth to over the centuries.

A Heroic Spirit so capable that almost any of the seven Classes could be filled by him without decreasing his power or skills too much in the process.

Hiwever, she would not attempt to Summon a Heroic Spirit like him in just _any _Class, oh no.

She was instructed to summon him as _Berserker, the Mad Warrior._

As one his already incredible natural strength would, through the class bonus, be empowered to new levels.

The Berserker class had of course his drawbacks, namely the loss of all self and sanity of the Servant.

Or rather it would have been a drawback; for every other Master that is.

For her, the Einzbern family Master, the Berserker Class was perfect.

The _family_ didn't want a tool that could speak its mind or object their decisions.

No, they just wanted one who would follow their orders unconditionally.

Furthermore, the more difficult control and the bigger Mana drain of a Berserker Class was also not a problem for her.

No, Berserker really had no drawbacks for the Einzbern _family_ or her as its Master.

She would summon one of the already strongest Heroes, who on top of that would be perfect under control in a Class which empowered him even further while her large Mana reserves and perfect summoning ritual would strengthen him even more.

To be honest; it was kind of ridiculous.

There would be no match for him, no other Servant would stand in his way and live. He was the perfect tool not only for the family, but for her to accomplish her ambitions.

He was the perfect card that could give her what she wanted.

_But._

But, there were doubts that she tried to bury, because what was there to think about?  
Just summon the strongest tool and kill the man you hate more than anything on this world.

It was easy wasn't it?

'_But is that really what I want? A tool to abide by my command? A tool that I can use like my family uses me?' _she didn't knew where this thoughts were coming from, but the train of thoughts didn't stop just there.

'_If, just If, I could summon Hercules in another Class would he listen to me? Would he maybe even aid me in my quest on his own accord, because he would understand me and the reasons why I want to do it?' _she could only shock her head at these thoughts.

Really, were had these come from? She, a mere tool who had no other reason to live than to kill the one man who had abandoned her and to give her life for the sake of the Einzbern family, wanted to be treated as a human; even worse, as a _equal_ all of a sudden?

And that by a being who would traditionally stand beneath her as she was the _Master _and it the _Servant_?

It was absolutely absurd to give up something that allowed her to stand above someone else just so that she could stand on the same level as them.

Her _family_ didn't saw her as a human after all so she didn't need to act like one.

'_But…'_ She thought, as some memories of her early childhood forceful struggled to the forefront of her mind. _'Didn't my mother love me as a human and not a tool?' _the thought was followed by one she would never admit having while her mind was in a clear state.

'_Didn't my __**father **__love me as a human and not as a tool, at least before he betrayed me?'_

Ridiculous, Ridiculous, just Ridiculous!

What she planned to do was just plain stupid.

She would be punished by her _family_, she would maybe even endanger her chances of winning the Grail and she didn't even know if Heracles would believe in her goals or not.

But, she didn't care.

Just this once she wanted to be selfish for the right reasons.

She wanted to be understood by someone, she wanted someone who would believe in her ambitions and most important to her; even if she didn't believe in it consciously at this point...she wanted someone who would treat her as a human and as an equal.

Yes, she would omit the extra part of the summoning Incantations which would have forced Heracles in the Berserker Class. She would let luck decide in which Class she would summon him.

In her mind the only thing that she did was that she changed a 'guaranty win granting part' of the procedure, because of her selfish desire to be a little more human and less a tool.

What she couldn't have known at that time was, that she made her first big step to change her previously determined_ Fate_.

At last she finished the magical circle and got up on her feet, looking down on her creation in the snow. It was a flawless magical circle exactly as it was required for summoning a Servant.

She shivered a little as the strong winds, which hadn't reached her in the forest, started to blow and made the ice cold environment too much to handle even for her. She wanted to rub her hands together to at least generate _some_ warmth. However, she remembered quickly as she tried to move her right arm, receiving a painful shock from him, that this wasn't really possible.

But, there really was no need to postpone the summoning ritual any more, dusk had finally set in and her deadline was rather short after all.

After this she would be back in the perhaps dark and gloomy castle, but at least it would be warm there and her wounds would be cared for.

She positioned herself six feet away from the magical circle and lifted her left hand, pointing at her creation, she then begun to speak in a clear and loud voice.

"_**Silver and iron to the origin. Gem and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone. The master is my great ancestor ~**_ _**Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern…", **_thus she began the summoning Incantation and felt how her magical circuits started to swirl and how a connection was established between her and the circle. The beginning of the incarnation after that was determinate and was for every master the same so there was no personal importance for her and she recited it rather monotonous to the teeth. Only as she reached the middle of the Incarnation, after which everything was alone up to the summoner or in a more movable boundary at least, emotions started to come back to her words.

"…_**If thou wouldst obey this mind and this reason, then answer my call.  
Thou who is all the good in the world. **_

_**Thou who holds all the ties in the world.**_

_**Follow the call of the Holy Grail.**_

_**Thou whose Fate is bound by many.**_

_**Thou who changes thy Fate.**_

_**Be it thy death that is deceived anew…" **_her voice seemed to reverberate deep in her being and it felt like as if her whole world was shaking.

"…_**In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer.  
Here is my oath." **_she inhaled and exhaled deeply once before she continued.

"_**I am the one who becomes all the good in the world.**_

_**And I am the one who will hold all the bonds in the world. " **_that was it. Only one line was left before the summoning was completed.

She paused for a moment and closed her eyes as she began to speak the last line in a slow and careful manner.

"_**So O keeper of balance let thy Invisible Ties be bound by eternity, and**_

_**emerge of this sea of power and cross those veils of the unknown ―――**__**！"**__**,**_

The whole world seemed to stand still for a moment nothing could be heard, nothing could move.

And then…

…_nothing_ happened.

No rush of energy, no activation of the magical circle, just nothing.

She just stood there for a moment in silence before she dared to open her eyes_**, **_but even her only ramaining hope was shattered as her gaze fell on the empty magical circle.

Nothing was there.

No Servant had appeared before her.

She tried to suppress a hurtful gasp which wanted to escape her throat at the realization, but she couldn't do it.

'_I…I…have failed,' _She couldn't keep standing as the harsh reality came crashing down onto her and the strength in her legs finally leaving her.

She fell to her knees and starred at the empty summoning circle.

Did she fail because she had omitted the change of the last two lines of the summoning?

Was this the reason why she had failed?

She didn't know, her mind didn't want to work properly and she could only think the same thought over and over again:

'_I have failed,'_

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"

She didn't knew how long she had sat there unmoving and without blinking, but the familiar growling sound which appealed to her instincts finally pulled her out of the worst of her shocked state.

She still didn't move; but inclined her head to the source of the sound and saw the familiar figure of a big black wolf which trotted slowly out of the forest and into the clearing; its gaze fixed on her. And he was not alone, behind him more and more wolves appeared out of the forest. It was at least a pack of a dozen wild beasts which slowly circled around her and came closer and closer while growling threatening.

Her Instincts screamed to her _'Stand up! Run!'_

But she still didn't move. Why should she?

Everything was over. She failed to summon a Servant. Her grandfather would make true on his words and wouldn't let her return to the family and even if he would let her go back they would only dispose of her or dissect her in experiments to learn from their failures for their next creation. This was her _Fate._

Without a Servant or the help of the family she had no hope of achieving her own goals.

'_Her goals,' _the thought resonated with something within her.

Her ambitions to kill the man who had abandoned her. The man she wanted to hurt so badly for hurting her. The man she wanted to see again, wherever it was before she died or before she killed him. She realized that it didn't matter which of those would occur, the only thing that was important was that she wanted to see her _Father_ again.

She stumbled to her feet her whole body shacking, just in time as the first of the pack tried to attack her. She reacted instantaneous by using her left hand and started ripping rather than simply pulling some of her hair out.

Again, she started to speak in a clear and authoritative voice.

"Ich bin eins, ich bin alles. Mein Körper ist mein Schild und mein Wille ist meine Waffe…" she again pumped_ Od_ into her hair and threw it towards the incoming wolf.

"…Buckler!"

The glowing hair expanded instantaneous and formed a big shield like object between her and the wolf. With a loud crash and yelp collided the beast with the wire-shied and was thrown back through the air by several feet. It landed hard on a big protruding root and loud cracks could be heard.

It didn't got up again.

Yes, she could do it. She would live and find a way to see her father again, with or without the help of the family or a Servant.

A malicious grin crept to her face as she straightened her posture and starred at some of the now more cautious moving beasts.

"You mindless beasts want to attack me? To kill me?" she started laughing in a almost crazy manner. Some of the wolves seemed a little bit frightened by the loud and disturbing noise, but recollected after a moment. After all, their pack had the superior numbers compared to the crazy lone human even if it could use some strange powers.

Still, the delay was enough for her to create two more wire-swords and with a wave of her left hand the shield too transformed into a sword like form.

"No, the one who will be killed is you! I will tear you to pieces!" she laughed again as two of her swords impaled one of the wolves and the third served both front legs of another one. She licked her lips at the sight. Suddenly as she concentrated on a fourth target something heavy crashed into her back and threw her some feet forward into the snow.

She hadn't paid enough attention to her surroundings and now paid the price for it.

She landed hard on her injured right arm and let out a cry of pain.

The burning pain was unbearable and she tossed around on the ground for a moment while holding her aching arm.

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"

Only the growl of the closing in wolf made her suppress the pain with sheer will power for the time being. She looked up at the closest beast which was only six feet away and tried to call her wire constructs to her side, only to realize that her concentration had been broken and the constructs had ceased to exist.

There was no time to create new ones. While she sat there helpless on the snowy ground propped up on her only functional arm and surrounded by still way to many beasts to even try and attempt an escape, no panic claimed her only hopelessness and finality.

'_So this is as far as I can go, this is the end,'_ she chuckled lightly to herself. Only seconds before she was all smug and screaming and now she lay defeated on the ground, how pitiful.

But at least she had taken some of them with her wasn't that something?

'…_No,' _said the little voice in her head, which had her forced to stand up and fight in the first place.

'_No, never give up. You have only this one live, never just throw it away without trying,' _said the now louder voice.

But she had already tried and failed; again.

'_And what? Even if there is no hope, don't just go and die with despair in your heart!'_ the voice said louder and way stronger this time.

'_Even if this is your Fate, don't just be content with it and take the outcome up silently. If the only thing you can do to oppose you fate is your voice then use it! Show __at least __your dissatisfaction, darn it!' _

The force of the voice made it impossible to ignore the stupid commands it was giving her.

So she should die with her convictions spoken out loud? Well, why the hell not. The voice had a point with that it was at least better than lying down and dying silently.

She again fixated her gaze on the closest wolf which was now only three feet away and prepared to leap at her. Therefore she just shouted the first thing that came to her mind, for more was no time anyway.

"I..._**I Challenge My Fate!", **_just as she found and finished her last words the world seemed to slow down again and the words seemed to resonate this time not only with her, but with the world itself. She felt how her magic circuits started to swirl, how the leaping wolf sailed slowly through the air, how the other wolves seemed as if they were frozen in place and out of the corner of her eyes she could see how the magical circle in the snow now was shining in a bright red light.

Suddenly, the world seemed to explode, as the normal pace of space and time came rushing back to her - all at once.

And for the first time this day the events turned out to be too much for her fatigued and wounded mind and body.

Her whole world went black.

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

"Mhh, that's certainly ironic so what should I do now?"

The first thing she heard as she regained consciousness was a question not even addressed at herself.

Her head hurt a lot as she slowly sat up and opened her eyes. All she could see was a blurry image with some white in it _'The snow'_ she thought, but to her confusion most of her sight was a blurry dark purple almost black.

"Ah, I see you are awake now," said the voice again. It sounded very kind and had a little worried sounding undertone in it.

'_Worried? For who? Her?' _she thought confused as she tried to clear the blurry sight through blinking rapidly. Finally her vision was clear again, and yes there was still snow on the ground, but more important she recognized the former black and purple spot as what it really was.

A heavy looking dark purple coat with long sleeves and some light purple streaks on it, the front was only closed with a single button at chest level and was otherwise open and revealed a cream-colored shirt underneath it, the look was completed with a matching hood which the wearer had not put on.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know?" the wearer of the coat, a man of average build with unruly hair as white as hers, said with a cheeky grin on his face and a strange look in his eyes as if he remembered something very funny that nobody other than him would understand.

"Here," the man added offering his hand with a smile to help her up.

She hesitated for a moment, but as the genuine smile never left the man's face she took his hand and was pulled to her feet.

She stumbled for a moment before finally regaining her footing again.

Now that she was stable on her feet again, she took her time to examine the surrounding which certainly looked different compared to the last time she had seen it.

The first thing she noticed was that dusk was over and the night had settled in with a big full moon in the sky which illuminated the surrounding enough so that she would be able to see everything clearly even if her sight hadn't been already enchanted from being a homunculus.

The next thing she noticed was the blood and the corpses that were spread all over the forest clearing. Just next to where she sat a moment before lay one of the dead wolves -_'the one who leaped at me?'- _cleaved through neatly in the middle.

She saw two to three wolves who had shared the same fate, but the majority of the body's were intact and only the strange looking flesh indicated that they were burned from the inside out.

_'He did that? Does this mean that he is my Servant? He certainly doesn't look like anything Heracles was ever described as,'_

There was no point in guessing she would just have to ask him.

"You, speak are…", before she even got to start her question she was interrupted by a sudden new weight on her shoulders and a comfy feeling of warm fabric touching her skin.

This led her to quickly look up from the corpse her gaze had been fixated on and she saw that the heavy looking coat the man had worn now rested on her shoulders and had, although too large for her, at once started to naturally snuggle against her body.

She turned around and came face to face with the white haired, now coatless, man who kneeled on one leg to seemingly establish eye level between both of them. She was so puzzled by the actions of the man that she couldn't manage anything else than to stare in the dark brown eyes infront of her and waited until he began to speak. Luckily, she didn't have to wait for long.

The man began to speak just then, with a now solemn look on his face, but his kind voice still present.

"Upon your summoning, I Servant _Caster_ have come forth. I ask of you, are you my Master?"

She was still confused and had many questions, in particular about the summoning ritual and the identity of the Servant before her.

But right now it didn't matter.

There was no hesitation in her voice as she answered the only question which needed one right now.

"Yes,"

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

Spirit: ?

Class: Caster

Master: Illyasviel von Einzbern

Alignements: Neutral Good

Strength: D

Endurance: C

Agility: B

Mana: A

Luck: B

Noble Phantasm: ?

**Class skills:**

**?**

**Personal skills:**

**?**

**Noble Phantasm:**

**?**

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

_**Author's Notes: **_

_**The sentence **_"Ich bin eins, ich bin alles. Mein Körper ist mein Schild und mein Wille ist meine Waffe"

**_is German and means_** "I am one, I am everything. My body is my shield and my will is my weapon"

_**Well, hello and congratulations to you that you managed it till here without leaving. Even if the story is not for your taste, let me say thank you for at least reading this far. It is certainly funny how this story came to be. You see I originally just wanted to write a one-shot with this stories Caster because I thought it would be cool to see him as a Servant. Nah, I don't tell you who it is if you didn't know already…let me have this little fun at least. So where was I? Ah yes…this was to be simply a one-shot with some cool moments, but after I tried to determine as which Servant I would summon him as and which Master would be kind of fitting. I thought more and more about how much Illyasviel and he had in common. They are both so similar but so different all at once. Even their stories are striking similar, but again different. So yeah while I thought that I wanted to write my first fan fiction to finally improve my writing I couldn't stop making up more similarities and events which could happened if he was summonend as Illya's Servant and that's where we are at now. I wrote almost 9000 Words (The One-Shot should have been only this long) and I only managed to give him, who was the point of writing this story, like five sentences…in 9000 words!...gosh that got out of hand really fast.**_

_**So yeah I'm pretty sure that I over extend myself with this kind of first project, but I don't care…I just want to have some fun.**_

_**So if you liked it or not leave a Review and tell me what you thought about it.**_

_**And hopefully I see you next time.**_

_**Kimran out.**_


	2. Break the Ice

**_A/N: Hello again, good reader. I hope this will be the last author's note before a chapter begins and the next will only appear after the chapters have ended._**

**_But yea to the point. Some people have asked me about this and I noticed that if I don't clarify it in general, then after this chapter, even more people will think about it. _**

**_This story will NOT include IllyaxRobin. It's not that I hate the idea, it is just that I didn't plan for it to happen and I'm a terrible romance writer._**

**_So no IllyaxRobin only a platonic friendship. Sorry._**

_**A Big thank you to **_**_Arrixam for beta reading this story.  
_**

**_Edited: 25/09/2015- _****_Just some corrections and rephrasings._**

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

**_Chapter 2: Break the Ice_**

_Silver and iron to the origin. Gem and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone. The master is my great ancestor ~ _**▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅.**

_The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate.  
fill. fill. fill. fill. fill.  
Repeat five times.  
Simply, shatter once filled.  
――――I announce._

_If thou wouldst obey this mind and this reason, then answer my call.  
Thou who is all the good in the world. _

_Thou who holds all the ties in the world._

_Follow the call of the Holy Grail._

_Thou whose fate is bound by many._

_Thou who changes thy fate._

_Be it thy death that is deceived anew._

_In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer.  
Here is my oath. _

_I am the one who becomes all the good in the world._

_I am the one who holds all the bonds in the world. _

_So, O keeper of balance let thy Invisible Ties be bound by eternity and_

_emerge of this sea of power and cross those veils of the unknown ―――__！_

* * *

As the words were spoken and the incantation finished, it was like a ripple through time and space had been unleashed. But it wasn't just a senseless aftereffect from the ritual.

No, it had a purpose. A purpose it needed to accomplish.

It was not _sentient _nor was it even really _aware, _but it knew where it had to go.

It knew what _it_ was that it needed to reach.

So it began to move, to connect the end with the beginning, to show the one it searched for the right way.

But something was not right_._

If it had been sentient, if it had been really aware, it would have noticed that something was wrong, very wrong.

The connection it tried to open up was almost completely sealed.

It almost seemed as if it wasn't supposed to venture in this place just yet.

As if the act itself wasn't even expected by the being that permitted the passage.

The _Holy Grail_ hadn't completely opened the gateway, yet.

Usually, this wouldn't be a problem.

Usually, it would just try and open the blocked passage, using every ounce of power it was lent by the being who had spoken, forcing its way through the sealed area.

_Usually, _but not today.

Even the immense power it was bestowed with by the being, the power that was greater than every other power that had ever caused the ripple before, was not enough.

If the ripple could gape in surprise in the moment as it was halted by the blocked passage, it would.

It had made it only a bit more than half way through.

The energy from the being that had spoken was still present, if not as strong as before and kept the ripple in existence, but the power was fading and was not enough to break through more of the passage, never mind to reach the other side.

It had failed.

There was no disappointment or regret.

But failed it had, this was a fact that even it couldn't dismiss.

Still, there was nothing the ripple could do besides waiting for the power that kept it in existence to fade.

But, it wouldn't need to wait for much longer.

"_**I Challenge my Fate"**_

The words were spoken from somewhere far away.

They were of great power and meaning.

However, that did not matter.

The preparations had been finished, the incantation had been spoken and a leading catalyst had been present. The words couldn't influence the ripple anymore and it didn't care for them either.

But, the words never intended to reach and influence the ripple, because they weren't meant for it. They were meant for_ them,_ the ones the ripple was supposed to reach and to bring back to the beginning.

They were meant for the beings that resided on _The Throne of Heroes._

And one of them answered the call.

It created an own force through time and space. A force which burst open the rest of the blocked passage from the other side and cleared the path.

The being from the _Throne of Heroes _hadn't only obeyed to the call, but had decided to walk the way through his own decision.

He wasn't just specially summoned as with a catalyst.

While a catalyst guaranteed the summoning of a certain _Heroic Spirit _for the most time, it only established a connection from one side, from the beginning to the end.

The so summoned _Heroic Spirit _had nothing to do with the summoning there was nothing that connected him and the summoner, nothing that wanted to go from the end to the beginning.

He would just be pulled out of the Throne, without initial reason or desire to fight for the one who called him. Only the promise of claiming the Holy Grail would reduce their displeasure.

Master and Servant still could form great pairs where one could learn from the other greatly, or however they could end miserably, loathing the ideals held by the respective other.

_Heroic Spirits _on the other hand which had likewise a connection to the summoner, be it through an object like an _magical __pendant _or an _life-determining conviction_, were more prone to be compatible with the master from the start and would be summoned every time.

_Every time._

The ripple already had its set destination, a certain hero it had to bring back.

But the force didn't care about that and just drove the ripple in the direction of the beginning, with a pressure that couldn't be denied.

If pictured in human terms; it would be like sticking a gun to the back of a person and saying: "Lead the way".

There was no other possibility than to subdue.

So, the way it lead. And they, again, reached the beginning. Its job was done and so the ripple ceased to exist, while the _Heroic Spirit_ entered through the exit and would be already at the side of the being that had spoken.

If the ripple could speak there would be just one thing that it would say at this very moment.

_Good Luck_

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

The first thing he noticed, even before his eyes were completely open, was the vast amount of energy that circulated throughout his body. He could count the times he had felt this strong and powerful in his lifetime on the fingers of one hand, two fingers to be exact.

Only as he had entered _Mount Prism_ and later the_ Dragon's Table_ had he felt equally powerful or maybe even slightly more so.

'_So…'_ he asked himself. '_…What monster of a Master could have summoned me?' _because seriously, which humans mana output equaled to that of a place which was literally supplied by a God itself, even if it was only a by-product of said god?

That thought frightened him a little, but enthralled him no less.

As his eyes were open at last, he noticed the next big and worrisome detail about his summoning.

_His Master was in danger._

The warning he received, through the connection between him and his new Master, shrilled in his mind like an alarm clock.

But he really wouldn't have needed the extra warning, because he could see the problem just fine.

His eyes darted around taking up the surroundings of the place he was in.

_White. Snow._

_Many trees. A forest._

_Dusk was over. Darkness. Night._

_Beasts. Wolves. Dangerous. Not to him._

No detail fled his studying gaze as he was finished in not even the blink of an eye and turned his glance to the last detail that was left in the area.

There on the ground lay his Master, he was of a small and delicate looking build, or to be more accurate - _she_ was, and her hair was as snow white as his.

His mind wanted to wonder why such a small girl who looked only like a little kid was in such a dangerous situation and had summoned him. But he quickly stopped this thought ürocess, because he already knew that you should never judge a book by his cover, even if she looked only like a little girl to him.

If you pushed her buttons the wrong way, she could turn out to be a fire breathing dragon at any moment.

'_Never will fall for that one again,' _he thought with a funny lock on his face, ignoring the fact that he had already fallen for it at least twice.

Only a few seconds had passed since his summoning, but it would seem as if even these were almost too much. One of the beasts was already on his master, with bared teeth and everything, but that was as far as it would go.

With a silent command a book materialized in his left hand, as he aimed with his right at the beast. It was too close to his master to unleash something powerful, it was too likely that he would hurt his Master too, if he tried.

He needed something small, something concentrated that wouldn't spread and he knew just the right one.

"_**Wind**_", he almost whispered the words, but there was nothing more needed to unleash the concentrated blade of air which covered the distance between him and the beast in an instant.

The beast couldn't even yelp in surprise as it was cleaved neatly in two by the blade of air and died instantly. The noises of the wind blade and of their dying pack member made the other beasts eventually aware of his presence.

However, it already was too late, as he targeted another two and in quick succession shot perfect aimed wind blades towards them.

He didn't wait for his spells to connect and instead turned his gaze to a bulk of wolves who seemed to think that they would be more secure if they stuck close together.

They were dead wrong with that one though and he was kind of relieved that he wouldn't have to kill all of the beasts separately. He took a moment to ponder which spell would get them all in one fell swoop, without being too much of an overkill.

While he really enjoyed the feeling of the enormous power that circulated through him and was keen to test as much of his abilities against this beast as he could, he had to admit that this would be a foolish thing to do.

An enemy, Servant or Master, could be in close proximity or even observing him right now, so it wasn't the best idea to use something to powerful or flashy.

"What a shame…way to steal my fun, brain," he muttered half jokingly under his breath, but he needed to get back to topic and again pondered for a moment before coming to a decision.

'_Not to powerful, not to flashy but enough to get them all in one go…perfect,'_ he thought as he again raised his right arm at the beasts and declared this time in a little louder voice.

"_**Arcthunder!**_"

Two balls of lightning seemed to appear out of nowhere above the bulk of wolves, they instantly morphed into two spears of lighting which crashed down onto the gathered beasts, frying them from the inside out.

The heat of the lighting evaporated some of the snow and for a moment a hazy mist formed over the forest clearing, obscuring his line of sight. The only beast left alive, which hadn't been with the bulk, seemed to take this as an invitation to jump at his Master from the cover of the mist.

Despite this, before its fangs or claws could even come close to touching its target, it found itself in an iron grip.

He had caught the beast out of mid air.

Two dark brown pairs of eyes stared in one another, one with wide open eyes full of fear and the other with a narrowed gaze that burned with a furious rage. While the eyes were wild, his voice was as calm as ice as he slowly spoke the last words the beast would ever hear.

"_**Thunder,**_"

As the smoking body went limp in his grip he threw it to the side, away from his Master.

One quick look around confirmed that no other beasts were in the area and he finally turned to the laying form of his Master. The book in his left dematerialized, again with an unspoken command.

There she laid, sleeping – or more likely unconscious, on the grou…wait a minute.

A wide open space, in the middle of nowhere.

A mysterious person sleeping on the ground.

And someone who finds her, offering his help without hesitation.

'_Sweet Naga, are you kidding me? It seems the Root has some sense of humor after all,'_

He thought while shaking his head in disbelieve.

Like on cue his Master began to stir.

'_Okay, if the Root wants to play then let's get at it, because two can play this game,__' _He thought to himself with a challenging smile.

He knew exactly what to say next.

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

"Say Master, do you really know where this castle is you spoke about?" he asked with a neutral face.

"Because I seem to remember this particular snow heap and that we already walked past it..."  
He pointed at a snow heap which vaguely resembled a wild animal.

"…twice." He added after an intentionally long pause.

His Master just glared at him for a moment with her bright red eyes, huffed and looked forward again.

She hadn't spoken much since they had closed their contract as Master and Servant, It was frustrating. He had tried to start some conversations with his usual attitude, but it seemed that it was harder than usual to get in good graces with his partner.

His Master was truly a though nut to crack. He began to grin to himself.

He loved a good challenge.

His eyes wandered to his Master again, who still wore his coat. People who knew him would certainly flip at this sight, he _never_ let anyone wear his coat, only a handful of people ever had the privilege to wear it and they were the most important to him on the whole wide world.

While that certainly still stood true, he first and foremost was a Servant and his Master well-being was most important to him. But even more important; his Master needed the invisible support desperately. He had seen it in her eyes, as she first locked her gaze with his.

He had seen hatred, much hatred, but he already knew this look, it was only a cover for the sadness and loneliness that were hidden behind the curtain of hatred.

So that she couldn't be hurt more than she already had.

What fate could have befallen such a young girl, to have a look like _that_ in her eyes?

He would find out and nothing would stop him from doing so.

None of these two problems was the most urgent though.

The most urgent was what he could see every time a part of his Masters body was revealed while she was walking and his coat didn't managed to cover her completely.

She was covered in wounds and bruises and it seemed like she couldn't move her right arm at all. He had seen how she tried to hide this fact from him, but he noticed it nevertheless.

He never regretted it more than in this moment, that he never had learned how to use a healing staff.

And why did she wore only a thin nightgown without even shoes or socks on anyway? The place was frozen for Nagas sake!

Someone had forced his Master in this dangerous place against her will, he was sure about it. He would find out who did it and then they would have…a _nice_ little talk…just they and him.

He would make sure about that.

His look was ire as he again concentrated on his Master who looked visible tired, but still said nothing to him about it and just walked onwards without pause.

Even though anyone could see that she had no idea where she was going.

His Master was truly a stubborn one. She would not admit to her weakness and would drive herself forward till she collapsed.

She reminded him of a certain blue haired, stubborn as-a-rock, princess who had a similar problem once upon a time.

'_What luck, that because of that I know exactly how to handle my little Master,'_

He thought to himself with a sly grin.

If she wouldn't admit to her problems on her own, he would just force her too.

He stepped behind his still oblivious Master and grabbed her by the collar of her –his– coat, lifting her up in the air and maneuvering her so that she now lay bridal style in his arms.

The only thing she managed during the whole process was to squeal in surprise.

"Caster what is the meaning of this? Let me down at once!" she demanded with a voice that would force obedience, if it hadn't been ruined by the fact that she had tangled herself up in his way to big coat and was now struggling to get free.

He had to admit, it looked kind of adorable.

"C-Caster you…" she began angrily as she noticed the grin on his face.

"Please do not move Master or you will just make your arm hurt worse," he interrupted her with a solemn and worried tone.

"You are hurt and I'm sure that I embarrass you deeply with my actions…", he began while looking her in the eyes "…but to be honest I don't care," she gaped at the statement, but he continued before she could retort something.

"I don't care how embarrassed you are, because I'm worried about your well-being Master. I can see how tired you are even if you try to hide it from me and lets be real here, we ARE hopelessly and utterly lost, if you want to admit it or not," he saw conflicting emotions wash over her face.

She wanted to be angry at him, but couldn't.

She wanted to make up excuses, but knew that he already had seen through her.

So she settled for something he didn't quite expect just yet; acceptance and an apology.

"You are right Caster…I'm sorry, I don't even know where we are going anymore, but I need to get back to the castle so that my family sees that I have done it…that I didn't fail," she spoke in a low voice and he noticed how the last words were spoken with a pained undertone.

"Don't worry Master we will be back soon enough and then your family will see that you didn't fail," he said with a reassuring smile.

"And really, how could they believe something like that after seeing me? I mean I'm like the most impressive guy ever! Didn't you see my coat? It's marvelous!" he exclaimed to the heavens in an exaggerated enthusiastic tone and then looked down on his Master and asked.

"Don't you think so too Master?...be careful what you answer or maybe I take my coat back", he added with a sly grin.

As he saw her hands reflexively tightening around his coat, he knew that he had won. And the small hearty giggle that his Master gave him was just the bonus.

"You are right. I mean, I summoned you so of course you must be the best Servant. A mage as great as me could never summon someone weak," she answered with a devious grin and a self-praise, that he couldn't counter after what he said before.

"You are a fast learner Master and I thought that I had found someone to poke fun at for a little longer," he sighted with a playful smile on his face.

He had started walking again while speaking to his Master and had simultaneously kept an eye open for a place to rest.

Therefore, he located a sufficient looking tree which roots were for the most part outside of the soil and had a gap big enough that a human could crawl under them, forming a functional shelter. He now stood before the tree and let his master down carefully. She hopped out of his arms as she was near the ground and started to immediately stagger, but a strong hand grabbed her by the shoulder preventing her from falling over, before letting go as she stood stable again.

"Be careful Master; and please take shelter under this tree while I search for some branches to make a fire," he said while looking around, making sure that no wild beasts where in the surrounding area, before he turned around and vanished in the dark spots under the trees which the full moon couldn't illuminate.

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

She watched the man leave and averted her eyes only as he was completely swallowed by the darkness of the night. No, she corrected herself.

Not just a man, but her Servant. Caster.

He certainly was a strange individual, she had been nothing but distant and even a little cold towards him, but he had not been put off by it like she thought he would.

She thought he would give up after the first fruitless tries and only act as a Servant that had no emotional connection to his Master, after that.

But quite the contrary happened, he had tried even harder.

He had been nothing short than friendly to her and seemed to care for her well-being a lot.

But why? She didn't understand it at all. She was completely lost and confused to be more explicit. It was not like she wanted to be cold and haughty to her Servant, but that was just how she was used to act around people. Show them that you stand above them and that you don't care about what they think about you. That's how she lived her whole life.

'_No, not your whole life…only the last years after you…'_ there was this annoying voice again, but she cut it off before she could finish the thought.

Well, in hindsight she should have let it finish it sentence, after all without it she wouldn't have managed to summon Caster. That, she could admit.

Only the voice that had prompted her to stand up and fight for her fate, was what had saved her life and her future in the end.

But she still couldn't admit full consciously that the voice was _her, _that everything the voice whispered in her mind was what she _really _thought and wanted.

No, she couldn't accept that much yet.

But still, the voice wanted to be _friends _with Caster, not only being Master and Servant, and Caster seemed like a person who would happily become one for her.

He, she had to admit was a nice guy, but was a nice guy really that what she needed right now?

Yes, she had wanted a Servant that could think and speak for himself, but she still wanted a strong and firm Servant too, who would obliterate anything that stood between her and the man she wanted to kill.

She had no doubt that Caster was powerful, that was a given as a Servant and with her as his Master, but he was no _Heracles_.

She was completely sure about that by now.

Could he still stand up against all the other Servants in the war? Even if he was powerful, Caster was said to be the weakest class in the whole war. Could she really win with him as her Servant? And what would her _grandfather _say? Would he still deem her as a failure or would he be at least a little satisfied that she had managed to summon a servant half a year before the war, even if he wasn't Heracles?

'_No,'_ she thought as she curled herself a little more tightly into Casters warm coat.

No, of course he wouldn't be. He had wanted her to summon Heracles and nothing less than that would satisfy him.

What should she do? Could she maybe repeat the summoning? She hadn't failed the first time so her grandfather would surely give her another chance if she asked, she had her _Command Spells_ and with one of them she could just command Caster to k…'_disgusting,' _there was the voice again and it sounded stronger and more furious then before, almost how it had sounded at the time as she wanted to give up on her life.

'_He has protected you! He was concerned about your well-being! And he did all that for you and you know what?' _

What? She barely dared to ask.

'_You saw his eyes while doing these things. He didn't just do them, because he is your Servant or something like that. No! He did it because he really cared. You get that? He cared about you __after knowing you for not even a full day, let alone two hours.' _

The voice was right.

Sure she was more cold-hearted then she liked to admit, but to throw away the only person who, since her maids had died, seemed as if he cared for her as a person? Just, because her _grandfather _might not be completely satisfied with him? A Servant who had come to her aide, as the one she initially tried to summon hadn't even cared to show up while her life was in danger? No, she would accomplish her goals with Caster at her side and no one else.

Speaking of which. Where was Caster? He was gone for some minutes now.

She looked around, her Rubin red eyes good enough to see long distances under the light of the full moon, but she still couldn't see past the dark shadows of the trees.

Suddenly she could hear some crunching noises coming from her left, as if something heavy was trudging through the snow. She turned her head abruptly to the noise and tried to untangle her left arm from under Casters warm coat, so that she could use her magecraft to fight if necessary.

She looked at the dark spot where the crunch noises came from, her body tense and her gaze unblinking, but to her relieve it was only Caster who appeared out of the shadows.

As he walked towards her in a leisurely pace, under the shine of the full moon, she again had time to get a good look at the man she had summoned as her Servant.

After she had giving him an once-over she estimated that he must be around seventy inches tall, fairly standard for a full grown human. He only was dressed in a short-sleeved cream-colored shirt, some dark trousers with a belt and he had some sturdy looking boots on which looked like the kind you would wear when you planned to walk quite a lot over surly terrain.

Without his coat on he was looking rather thin, even though she could see that he had an athletic body.

But even as his unruly white hair was blown to and fro by the again upcoming strong and icy winds, he didn't seem to care for the cold at all. Servants seemed to be even more sturdy than even Homunculi in this regard.

Caster stopped some feet in front of her and put the things down he had carried in his arms, but were before seated in an angle which hadn't allowed her to recognize them clearly.

He piled up some branches so that they looked exactly like a good campfire should, at least she thought so.

She only had read about campfires in some books, but had never seen one with her own two eyes before.

Yet, she thought that there couldn't be that much of a difference to a chimney fire.

Caster pointed one of his hands at the pile of branches, but stopped as he seemed to remember something.

"Master, please stand back a little bit. I don't want to hurt you by accident," Caster spoke after a moment and gave her a little smile while indicating her to move back, with a wave of his hand. She did as requested and then for the first time after his summoning saw how her Servant acted like someone should who was summoned in the Caster class.

He used magecraft.

"_**Fire**_," she heard Caster almost whisper the word, as he ignited the branches and completed the campfire.

A short incantation and a fast and powerful effect, she observed and made an imaginary note in her mind to ask Caster later what the limits of his magecraft were.

She felt her face tingling as the pleasant wave of warmth from the now blazing campfire reached her face. She sighted in delight and wrapped herself again a little tighter in Caster coat, while covering her body against the cold winds in the gap of the tree roots.

Caster just smiled, as he sat down some feet next to her and picked up another one of the things he had brought with him. It seemed a little bit unshapely and it had a red pattern with some white in it…

"Is that meat? Where did you get meat?" she asked dumbfounded as the realization struck her.

"Oh, this?" Caster replayed nonchalantly while waving the piece back and forth.

"I just found some dead beast lying around some trees away in this direction," he said with a shrug and pointed over his shoulder in said direction.

"I think that after examine its wounds and having seen the other dead wolves on the forest clearing, I can safety assume that this was your work, Master?"

She thought about it for a moment. "Yes, it is certainly possible that I was the one who slain it. The wolves on the clearing were not the first I encountered,"

"I knew it! Alone the feeling that I had after being summoned…already there I was aware of the fact that I had a capable Master, but seeing it with your own eyes makes it so much more impressive," he said to her smiling honestly.

She felt how her cheeks started to become just the faintest bit red at the compliments and tried to hide it behind Casters coat. She wanted to answer something -anything-, but as she saw how Caster pinned two pieces of meat on a stick and rammed it into the ground so that he didn't need to hold onto the stick all the time while the meat was being roasted…something in her mind clicked, something she had repressed after seeing the wolf meat for the first time.

"Wait, you want to eat wolf meat?...You want me to eat wolf meat?!" she asked flabbergasted, it was incomprehensible how someone could get the idea of eating _wolf_.

Caster just looked at her funny for a moment, before his look became one of utter seriousness.

"But of course Master, if wolf only tastes as half as good as bear it will be a taste experience you will never forget in your whole life!"

'_B-Bear?'_ she thought while she just stared at her Servant.

After they just starred at one another for a moment, she with an unexplainable look and her Servant with one of utter seriousness, she couldn't hold it anymore and started to giggle first slowly and then uncontrollable.

'_Yes, yes I'm completely sure now. I want to stay with this Servant, this man, till the very end,'_ she thought while holding her stomach from the giggling.

"I have made my decision, Caster. I like you, so I will keep you," she said, a little evil grin on her face that sent a shiver downwards Casters spine.

"Ah..th..that's great Master?" Caster seemed more to ask than to answer. His smile was now unsure and not all that much self-assured like before.

'_Oh yes, this will be great,'_ she thought to herself as she observed the reaction of her Servant, her evil little grin still present on her face.

'_Now the important things first,'_ she thought as she started to address her Servant.

"Now that we have a calm moment…",

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

"…I would like to introduce myself, formally." His Master started in a now solemn tone.

Hence, he brushed the wavering smile away which had been on his face moments before and locked their gazes with a now equally solemn look.

His Master pushed herself to her feet and straightened her back, before bowing a little bit, making a curtsey, then she announced herself with a now cheery smile on her face.

"Illyasviel…Illyasviel von Einzbern, but you have my permission to call me Illya if you want,"

After a moment she added.

"You should feel honored, only a few people ever had the permission to call me like this," there was no haughty undertone in her voice as she said it, only sincere fondness.

'_Finally, they could talk while standing on the same ground,' _he couldn't stop himself from smiling, while pushing himself to his feet.

"It's nice to make your acquaintance, Illya", he said with a gentle smile, also bowing a little bit.

"I don't know my family name and I wouldn't want to anyhow…" Illya perked up at this statement and many questions seemed to flow through her mind, but she stayed silent and waited for Caster to finish.

"…but that's not important. You Master –no– you Illya, can just call me _Robin_. Robin from the Halidom of Ylisse. Tactician of the Shepherd's and from now on your loyal Servant and hopefully someday, someone you can call a friend," Robin declared with a look on his face that was inviting and open-hearted.

"And you should feel honored too, didn't you hear me as I spoke about my coat? It's very important to me and only special people have the privilege to wear it, so think yourself lucky", he added with a sly grin and also only fondness in his voice.

"R-o-b-i-n…Robin," Illya tested his name while speaking it out slowly, and then grinned.

"I like that name. It's nice to make your acquaintance, Robin," she declared.

"I have many more questions for you Illya. About the war and in general; and I'm sure you have many questions too, but I think we should postpone them, at least until we are back at the castle you spoke about and your wounds were cared for," he said, again with a solemn look and a voice that pleaded for her to agree.

Illya really had many questions, but if her well-being was so important to Robin then she would oblige. So she just nodded.

Robin looked relieved at that and they just sat there in comfortable silence for some minutes. The silence was broken as Robin took the stick away from the campfire and after smelling and looking at it, offering her one of the meat pieces, apparently deeming it edible. She unraveled herself a little out of Robin's coat, but it seemed that she acted to hastily, as she twitched in pain and held onto her wounded right arm.

Robins face fell at that, but he could do nothing more than cursing himself for his inability.  
"I'm really sorry Master, a Caster who can't even heal his Master in the time of need…what a joke," he declared. His look directed to the ground and his voice full of shame.

There came no answer from his Master and he felt a aching tug at his heart because of that.

Suddenly something warm leaned against him and as he looked up he saw Illya who had seated herself beside him, her hand held open, silently asking for the meat he had offered before. He handed her the piece of meat and she started taking small bites from it.

He sighed, as he looked down on his happily chewing Master.

'_I really don't deserve such a great Master as her, I will try even harder from now one to see her happy,' _he thought to himself, while taking a bit from his piece of meat.

He chewed in sync with his Master for a moment before he swallowed the meat and declared.

"Yup, almost as good as bear," he only received a muffled giggle in return, as his Master – apparently finished with her piece of meat; had curled herself even tighter in his coat and leaned against him. He just sat there for a moment, starring unmoving in the dancing flames of the campfire, at last he only heard the slow and steady breathing of his Master who had finally given in to her exhaustion and was fast asleep.

He smiled to himself for a moment before his face went blank and he started to observe the surroundings more attentive than before.

Night watch. He hated Night watch. Good that Servants didn't need to sleep.

He sighed a last time, before he just sat there, in the silence of the night, waiting for dawn to arrive and devoted one last thought to the sleeping form that leaned against him.

'_Sleep tight, Illya.'_

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

Spirit: Robin "The Tactician" **(Update!)**

Class: Caster

Master: Illyasviel von Einzbern

Alignements: Neutral Good

Strength: D

Endurance: C

Agility: B

Mana: A

Luck: B

Noble Phantasm: ?

**Class skills:**

**?**

**Personal skills:**

**Companionship: A (Update!)**

Robin, in life, was not only the Tactician of the Shepherds, the personal volunteer force of Prince -and later- Exalt Chrom, but a friend of each and every one of them.

Regardless of whether it was a wary knight, a lunatic mage, a stalking admirer, a princess from the future or the voice of God itself, he could bond with all of them.

Robin demonstrates his ability to always discover things that he and other people have in common and can figure out the source of most people's inner turmoil's in a matter of a few important conversations.

As such it is possible for him to befriend almost anything and everything, if he just tries hard enough and gets the opportunity to talk personal and outside of battle.

_This excludes evil doppelganger from the future, which house Fell Dragon Gods in them._

**?**

**Noble Phantasm:**

**_?_**

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

_**Author's Notes:  
**__**Wuhu Chapter 2, BABY!...don't ever expect me to update within a week again...ever.**_

_**No seriously exams are coming up and this story will need its time. Don't forget I never wrote anything before, ever. Just look at this Chapter...that is not how this Chapter was supposed to end! Do I like the ending? Yea kinda, but that's not the point. The point is that, that what is now the ending should have been in the middle, THE MIDDLE of the chapter and the**_ _**story**_ _**so far**_ _**should**_ _**be**_ _**much further than it is now...what the hell? Pacing? Help?...ARHGHAGH...well I can manage, still this are problems which only come up while writing. **_

_**I really hope that the character interaction and the dialogue was not too forced and that both Illya and Robin were at least somewhat in character...I really try to try here, guys and girls.**_

_**Ah just one info because I don't seem to be able to write this certain section very well, no Illya doesn't has a split personality in her head or something. That is just her discussing with her conscience**__** or something**_ _**comparable**__**.**_

_**So again if you didn't like this Chapter or if you did like it, please let a Review here and tell me your opinion.**_

_**Kimran out**_


	3. A Daughter's Gift

**_A/N: Thanks to everyone who has followed, Reviewed and Faved, that means a lot to me._**

**_Thanks to __**Arrixam for beta reading!**_**

**_**EDIT: 14/03/2015 some slight chances here and there, I wasn't** _**_**satisfied with how some lines were written.  
**_

_**Edited: 26**_**_/09/2015- __Just some corrections and rephrasings. Renamed the Tome NP. (thanks to repuzzan). And changed Robins _strength stat into 'D'.**

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

**Chapter 3: A Daughter's Gift**

_She was floating, that was the only way to describe it._

_Floating in never-ending white…or was it blackness? She wasn't sure._

_She wanted to name it after something she knew— a color, a taste, a feeling, but nothing really fit._

_There was nothing. No beginning, no end. No sound. No taste. No sight. Just pure nothingness._

_Or that was what she thought at least, because describing nothingness seemed to be impossible for a human being— or in her case a being that exactly thought like a human._

_Why was she here? When did she get here? Where was she? She couldn't remember anything at all._

_Everything seemed and felt just blank._

_Just as she thought she would need to stay in this nothingness forever, the world began to change._

_There was now something she could see, it was like a bright light that called her to it._

_She felt herself drawn to the light as it was the only hope of rescue from the nothingness she could think about._

_As she approached it all of her senses seemed to come slowly rushing back to her bit by bit, it felt as if something pulled her out of the nothingness and back in the real world where existence and comprehension mattered again._

_She was so thankful to whatever had helped her to escape out of these horrible and blank feeling._

_Something was wrong however._

_She could feel the ground on which she lay beneath her, the soft breeze which blew through her hair and the warmth of the sun on her body, but she still felt strangely detached from all of the feelings, as if they weren't her own, but rather from someone else._

_The feeling was only reinforced as her eyes snapped open without her wanting it._

_She stared directly into the faces of two humans._

_Both looked down at her with worry in their eyes._

_One belonged to a young man with hair as blue as the ocean and the other to a smaller girl with two blond pigtails that gleamed in the afternoon sun._

_A smile graced their lips as they saw that her eyes had opened._

_The blue haired man began to move his mouth as if to speak and in this moment she realized for the first time that she couldn't hear anything._

_Not the breeze of air which blew though her hair, not the rustle of the grass which grew next to her and not the talking of the blue haired man who stood above her. She could hear absolutely nothing._

_As the man extended his hand to her, her body moved on its own again and she took the man's hand in hers._

_While she was pulled to her feet her gaze fell onto her hand –or better what should have been her hand._

_The hand looked nothing like hers, it was bigger, rougher and the skin was not as white as hers, but the most striking difference was the dark purple glowing symbol that was present on the back of her hand._

_The six eye-like spots in the symbol seemed as if they were staring right back at her, looking directly into her soul, she couldn't avert her eyes from them and it was as if the time stood suddenly still._

_The dark purple glowing light started to grow bigger and bigger, till it engulfed her complete vision._

_In the next moment the location had completely changed, she was now walking through what seemed like a medieval army camp full of tents and with many different looking and dressed people running to and fro. Again did her body move on her own, while her gaze flew around the camp taking in the details of it._

_There were campfires everywhere with people sitting around them, seemingly talking._

_Many different tents, some clean and new looking, others battered and worn._

_Carts with goods were positioned here and there, full with weapons and other equipment._

_Her body moved very efficient through the camp, as if she knew it inside and out, jumping over some obstacles that obstructed the path, using apparently short cuts and smoothly passing through bulks of people without stopping._

_As she managed her way through the camp she soon noticed that she stood taller than normal; she could climb over things that normally would have been too high for her and she could actually look down on some people, it was weird._

_She only felt her body slowing down as she had seemingly reached her destination, a tent which looked bigger than the rest and had a white flag raised on top of it which was adored by some blue symbol, signaling importance._

_Her body didn't hesitate for even a second, as she moved to the entrance of the tent pushing away the drapes that served as a door replacement and strut into the spacious inside of the important looking place._

_Placed in the middle of the tent was a big bulky table, which was occupied by a large map that apparently showed a wide landscape and some towns._

_Many small wooden pieces in different colors that looked like humans were positioned on the map, as if it was some kind of game._

_Two people stood behind the table, both seemed as if they were in deep concentration, moving different pieces around the map and seemingly talking with one another._

_Both didn't look up until she stood on the other side of the table, right in front of them._

_She could feel how her mouth moved, but she still heard nothing not even her own words. One of the people was the blue haired man from earlier who just smiled at her and seemed to nod to the things she said._

_The other person had the same striking blue hair as the man._

_It was a beautiful looking young woman whose features were very similar to the man besides her and was probably his younger sister._

_She too smiled at her, but it seemed more forced and her bearing was a lot stiffer compared to the more easy going man next to her._

_She felt how her gaze lingered on the blue haired woman's face a little longer._

_This gave her the opportunity to notice the blue symbol in one of the woman's eyes._

_It was the same symbol that adorned the flag that was raised on top of the tent._

_Like the purple symbol before the blue symbol started to shine and it again turned out be impossible for her to avert her eyes from the steadily brighter shining symbol._

_As she was engulfed by the light, the location changed to something completely different again._

_This time however it was even stranger than before._

_Her hearing was back and she could perceive the sound of clashing steel, battle cries and the moaning of beings that couldn't possible be humans._

_She couldn't see any of that however._

_The noises were loud and constantly moving, the source couldn't be more than a few feet away from her._

_Still, there was nothing._

_While the battle noises raged on in her ears, her eyes could only see the wide empty space of the dim lit chamber she was in._

_The ground and the walls were made of gray stone and she could spot many different symbols and writings carved into the walls._

_It looked like a tomb or a very old shrine, for what she didn't know._

_Suddenly there was laughter, it sounded wicked and strangely distorted._

_But again she couldn't see anything except the abandoned and uncomfortable feeling space around her._

_The laughter became louder and louder, as if the source was getting constantly closer to her._

_She blinked once and as her eyes were open again a man stood before her, as if he had been there all along._

_She didn't know why, but fear coursed through her whole body as she looked at the newcomer._

_The man was tall and incredible thin, his face seemed like it was stretched and he wore dark clothes similar to a coat._

_The man started to laugh again in his crazy and wicked manner._

_Her blood seemed to freeze at those shrill noises that came from the throat of the man in front of her._

_He raised one of his hands, his fingers were extremely thin and long and had sharpened fingernails that seemed like they could easily rip the flesh off a humans body._

_She wanted to get away from the man, but she couldn't move._

_She had no control over her body and whatever moved her before had apparently neither._

_A dark purple cloud formed in the man's outstretched hand. Something like black and white lightning seemed to circle around and through the cloud, crackling dangerously as the man lifted his hand over his head, smiling devilish at her._

_She wanted to run, but her body just wouldn't move._

_She started to panic, would the man kill her? Even though she didn't even know where she was? She felt how her whole body was tense, waiting for the inevitable._

_The man's laughter echoed from the surrounding walls as it was all of a sudden the only noise that could be heard in the wide empty space of the chamber._

_No sounds of clashing steel and battle, not even the uncanny moaning could be heard anymore._

_There was only the crazy laughter of the man before her, his threatening red glowing eyes which starred in hers and the crackling purple ball of energy that was thrown in her direction._

_She again tried everything to avoid the ball of certainly deadly energy, but it was to no avail. Her body still wouldn't move and the only thing she could do was to hopelessly watch as the purple ball of death impacted with her body and swallowed her whole in never ending darkness._

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

She woke up with a jerk her eyes snapping open, breath heavy and gaze unfocused.

Her sight was blurry and she needed a moment to remember where she was and why.

The location was the Einzbern forest and the sun had already rose, she was here to summon a Servant and she had done so yesterday.

It was however not the Servant she initially wanted to summon.

_Heracles_ the greatest hero of Greece; summoned in the Berserker class had been her goal, but what she got was, in her eyes at least, for all intents and purposes way better.

Servant Caster, or better, _Robin_, had answered to her call and had come forth to aid her.

Helping her by not only slaying the beasts which had wanted to claim her life but by being friendly to her and worrying about her wellbeing as a whole.

She inhaled and exhaled once deeply to calm her rapidly beating heart down.

What a strange dream that had been; she was not foreign to nightmares, but this had been different.

It had felt as if she had not even been in her own body and as if someone other had shared what he felt with her.

First there was this terrible nothingness that threatened to seize her again only by thinking about it.

Quickly shrugging it off, she thought about the next instance of her dream.

She had felt confusion as her eyes had opened on this field and hope as the man and the girl had looked down to her, extending his hand to her.

As she had stepped into the tent, her gaze falling onto the two blue haired people who both smiled at her, she had felt a surge of happiness and responsibility welling up in her chest.

Only the last one was completely different, she had not only felt fear as the sound of battle reached her ears, but even greater one when she was unable to even see what was happening around her.

After that there was just agony and hopelessness as she hadn't been able to move and was completely helpless before the evil looking madman.

She didn't understand her dream at all; nightmares usually showed her things she knew, persons she knew…but this dream had shown her nothing she was familiar with.

Not the people, not the location, not the meaning.

She grinded her teeth. If she had at least been able to hear anything of what was spoken in the dream and not only the laugher of a crazy man then she surely wouldn't be this confused and agitated about it.

She shuddered as she thought about the man and the ball of black energy that had hit her.

Suddenly she felt a hand being placed on her shoulder.

She glanced up and saw Robin kneeling beside her with a worried look on his face.

He only wore his thin cream-colored shirt since his heavy dark coat lie still around her shoulders.

_'Ah, right'_ She had slept against him so he would of course notice her jerking awake and the irregular breathing.

She saw him opening his mouth, surely to ask if everything was okay, but she just looked him in the eyes so that he knew that she was serious and shook her head before he could speak.

There was really no point in making a fuss over one strange nightmare, she had worse.

* * *

**~Invisible Ties of Fate~  
**

* * *

Robin just shrugged at his Masters dismissal and got up from the ground.

If she didn't want to tell him that was fine, they weren't this close yet and everyone had a bad dream in a while, no need to be nervous about.

But now that his Master was awake there was really no excuse to loiter around anymore.

Illya had needed the sleep dearly this much he had seen, but they really had to take care of her wounds now.

And for that they had to find her home –a castle she had told him– so that someone with the necessary knowledge could heal her.

Because he sadly wasn't able to.

He who was summoned in the Caster class, a class in which even the most untalented Servants could utilize strong healing magecraft without even an ounce of effort, couldn't even heal a wounded arm and some scratches.

This was the drawback of only honing his combat skills and his tactical mind his whole life, he had never bothered with the art of healing.

Kind of a wasted opportunity, if he thought about it now.

There had been many people who could have taught him.

Lissa, the sister of his best friend or Libra the kind-hearted priest as an example. Both would have surely accepted his request to teach him with delight.

Hell, he was sure that even Maribelle with all her snobbish posturing or the grumpy Brady would have been happy to oblige.

They were all friends, so it wouldn't have mattered regardless who he would have asked.

He smiled as he thought about his old friends, then just shrugged inwardly over the lost opportunity, because really, where should he have found the time for something like that anyway?

Next to his normal training regime for his mastery in sword and magic, his duty as the advisor and tactician for the shepherds and of course the time he spent with his friends and family, where would he have made place for even more extremely time consuming training?

He could almost see his _eldest_ daughter making a puppy dog face in front of him, looking as if she had been kicked after he told her that he had no time to play with her anymore, since he needed to learn more about healing magic.

He felt bad just thinking about it.

If his time with the Shepherd had taught him _one _thing, than that no one was perfect.

No one knew or could perform everything and no one would ever be able to, but they didn't need to anyway, because there was always another Shepherd at their side who could help to achieve their goals.

That was how the Shepherds had worked, how they always would and that was exactly why they were such a big family.

And now he needed to rely on others again.

They may be no Shepherds, they may not even be comrades, but that didn't matter.

If they could accomplish what he wasn't able to he would be happy.

Because to see his Master not in pain anymore was all he wanted in this moment.

He looked to his Master who had got to her feet and was stretching, probably to lift the morning tenseness.

"Good Morning Master, did you sleep well?" he asked with a gentle voice even if he knew that she probably didn't, but manners were manners.

"…ye…wa…okay," half her words were swallowed by a mighty yawn that escaped her small delicate mouth.

He just grinned at her. "I will hope so, because I will not carry you again just because you are still sleepy."

She stared at him angrily and flustered alike, but grinned slyly after a moment.

"Oh? Robin you really don't need to search for excuses, if you want to hold a beautiful woman in your arms you just need to say so"

'_No way that I will not make it this easy for you,_' he thought as he looked at his Master who had her index finger positioned at the side of her lip imitating a look of fake innocence while watching him.

"You're right Master, it really would be a delight to carry a beautiful woman in my arms right now…" he flattened his smile to a defeated look while pausing for a moment, waiting till the victory smile was spreading over Illya's face and then continued.

"…if _only_, there were one here," he sighed theatrical and added.

"That's okay, I mean someone has to be a responsible adult and watch after the little kids, too," he started patting Illya's head to illustrate his standpoint.

He could almost feel the anger leaking out of his Master as she starred up at him with a death glare and he seriously wondered if to tease her that much had been a good idea after all.

"Caster~" he flinched at her sweet, _dangerously_ sweet, pronunciation of his class name.

"Y-Yes Master?" he gulped nervously.

"I really want to win this war and it would be a shame if our chances were being reduced...", she continued with a sing-song voice "…because of some accident where my charming Servant loses an limb...," he withdrew his hand from her head instantly and went a few steps back, as his Master smiled at him with an innocent smile that send a shiver down his back.

He waved his hands in front of him in a soothing manner. He could almost believe his Master's threats— her tremendous magical capacity which nearly rivaled that of a Servant made the threats certainly _almost_ possible, but only almost.

This knowledge didn't make her less frightening though.

"Just kidding Master, no need to startle me to death," he answered in a voice that he hoped would calm her down a little.

"Oh my, the big and strong Servant backs down this easily… what a shame," her voice was mocking and did he hear a challenge in her words?

Yes, that seems to be what she was getting at.

Well, okay then.

"Ah, Master if you want me to show you how good of a Servant I am, then you just need to ask, no need to be ashamed about it," he answered with a slight mock bow, rehashing her former statement.

She just huffed "As if there is something in this middle of nowhere that is worth testing you about…" she paused for a moment and seemed deep in thought till she came to a decision

"You said you were a tactician and you are in the Caster class so you are of course a Magus..."

"Yes, of course I am Master, what about it?" he asked with a slightly confused look. What had his Master planned? He didn't mind to solidify his Master's confidence in him a little more, but hopefully it was nothing too out there.

"Then with your skills, locate and get us to the Einzbern Castle before the sun stands at its highest point; if you can do that I will forgive you for calling me a little child and I will truly believe that to summon you wasn't a mishap," she looked at him her mocking grin replaced with a solemn and hopeful look.

Ah. He understood now, this was truly important for his Master.

She wanted to believe in him even though he wasn't the Servant she had initially wanted to summon.

He hadn't asked about it and she hadn't told him, but yes he was already sure that she planned to summon another Servant— most likely someone very specific. Still, his Master hadn't called him out on it, hadn't shown any dissatisfaction towards him, she treated him equally like the Servant she had wanted to summon and gave him now the chance to make true on her trust.

_'At his highest, huh?'_ If his Master would have challenged him yesterday night that surely would have been a problem, but now in plain daylight and with the enchanted sight of a Servant?

Piece of cake.

He didn't even need to ponder about how exactly he would do it, because he had the solution already.

An old memory of which he was so proud of, that he would never forget it.

He would _never_ forget something his family had taught him.

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

_A deep sigh escaped his throat as he put the latest piece of paper he had signed on the already enormous pile of documents to his left. He leaned back in his chair groaning and just looked at the ceiling for a moment._

_There was still more paperwork, even though he had worked since the early morning at it and now it was already afternoon. He gave the other pile of paper on his desk, which was visibly larger than the one where he had put the last piece of paper on, a glare which he wished would just make the pile disappear._

_It, of course, didn't and he again let out a deep sigh while allowing himself a break for a moment. His gaze wandered around the room which was his primary work place in the castle which was located in the capitol of Ylisse._

_The whole room was full of paper piles –document piles to be more exact._

_They were on the floor, in the corner of the room, on chairs, on shelves…everywhere._

_There were some banners here and there so that the room didn't appear too bleak and grey, but most of the room was occupied by documents, maps, documents, notes from him, documents, and even more documents._

_He really loved his job, but on some days he just wanted to cry because of the inhuman amount of paperwork the fine-lovable-slave driver of an Exalt had dumped onto him._

_Yes, he had voluntarily agreed to not only take care of everything that had to do with the troops and forces of Ylisse -which was kind of his job as Grandmaster of the place, but to help his friend out with the administrative management of the Halidom._

_Because to be fair, while Chrom was a good regent and a good man, paperwork was not really his cup of tea._

_He wouldn't go as far to say that his friend was more muscles than brains, but the truth was that the muscle part came way easier to Chrom exactly like the brain part came easier to him._

_Still, sometimes it was just too much and he couldn't stop himself from cursing his friend._

_But, that was really enough self-pity for a day and the pile of paper didn't sign itself no matter how much he wished for it._

_He leaned over his desk again and grabbed another document from the pile, which read:_

_ 'Trading routes, fees and regulations' and started to study the content attentively. No matter how much he complained he would never ever not take his job seriously._

_He lost himself in his work after that and worked through the pile of documents without once stopping or looking up._

_"…ad,"_

_Just now he pondered over the exact phrasing of a document from a Valmese politician… you never could be cautious enough with these guys._

_"Da…"_

_It was like he heard something, but he just shrugged it off and_ grasped _ a pen to sign the document off for an extra inspection._

_"Dad…"_

_Huh, now he was sure that he had heard something, but before he could look up a loud voice startled him almost of his chair._

_"DAD!"_

_His gaze shot up and a hand waved in front of his face._

_He looked into the pouting face of his eldest daughter, who had pulled her arm back and crossed both, emphasizing her sulky look._

_"Uh-h, Morgan what is it? I'm sorry, but I'm kind of busy I can't play 'Tome Stackers' with you right now," he smiled at his daughter still a little bit startled by her loud voice._

_Her face lit up instantly now that she had his attention._

_"What why can't we play…" she started, for a moment forgetting why she was here in the first place, before correcting herself._

_"Oh no that's not why I'm here Dad, look it is amazing! I worked with Miriel on this new spell and…" after that there came just unintelligible gushing out of his daughter's mouth, as she started to bounce excitedly through the room._

_Her tactician coat, which looked exactly like his, flapping back and forth._

_He just laughed. "Calm down Morgan. Tell me, what exactly made you so exited?"_

_His chest filled with warmth as he observed his daughter who seemed even more happy and excited than usual, if this was even possible at all._

_"Ah, sure Dad here look," his daughter stopped her bouncing and started to rummage in the pouch of her coat till she apparently found what she was looking for and pulled a green covered book out presenting it to him._

_"Tata~"_

_No, he observed. Not just any book, but a magical tome._

_"Is that an Arcwind tome Morgan? What about it?" _

_She just started to giggle with a giant smile on her face._

_"Yep, only a Arcwind tome, but you see Dad I used it earlier and…" _

_A frightening thought came to his mind and he interrupted his happily babbling daughter._

_"Morgan please don't tell me you used such a powerful tome inside the castle," _

_Naga, if he just thought about the chaos that would cause…not to mention the paperwork…_

_"Of course not Dad why would I do something like that…?" she paused for a moment apparently deep in thought before she continued with a cheery grin._

_"Oh my gosh, you are a right! Just how fast I could clean my room with this, you are a genius Dad!" _

_He so didn't like were this was going, but he just hadn't the heart to reprimand his daughter who tackled him in a bear hug and looked up at him with amazed eyes._

_The only thing that was left for him to do, was to pat his daughter's head and to sigh before he directed the conversation to the original topic while hoping that his daughter would forget about the 'clean your room with a powerful magic spell that can rip a wooden door out' idea… he held little hope of success.  
_

_"So, Short-Stuff, I really have a lot of work to do, so if you could just show me what you wanted?" he didn't like to urge his daughter this much when she looked so happy, but the work didn't just vanish because he wanted to spend time with his daughter._

_She pouted for a moment before a cheery grin claimed her face again. Taking one of his arms she pulled him out of the room while chirping happily._

_"Just come to the training grounds, Dad and I show you what an amazing daughter you have!" _

_He let himself be dragged through the castle by his daughter, ignoring the occasionally stare or snicker from the other castle residents which knew his daughters antics well enough by now._

_After they reached the training grounds his daughter indicated him to stay at the border of the field while she positioned herself in the middle still happily smiling._

_"Okay, here we are Short-Stuff. What now? What crazy experiment did you and Miriel work on?" he had a suspicion, but he said nothing about it. Not wanting to take the fun away from his daughter._

_"Hihi, do you remember how you said that I have even better magical control than you Dad and that because of this I was the best choice to help Miriel with her experiments?" she said in a proud voice, like always when she remembered a praise from her father._

_"Of course, that was not even a week ago."_

_"We did so much fun experiments about controlling and using magical power…we even tried to create a completely new fire spell...it was so amazing!" her voice almost overflowed with excitement, as she started to bounce on the spot again._

_Yes, he knew everything about this 'new spell'. At least one-fifth of the documents which were about damage control he had signed yesterday were about the results of this new 'turned out to be way more explosive then we initially thought' spell._

_He just sighed and really hoped that whatever Miriel and Morgan had crafted this time wasn't as destructive or at least not as paper heavy._

_Not knowing about her father's thoughts, Morgan just talked on happily._

_"…And so we thought what if we could combine perfect magical control and power with good body control, a fast thinking head and an already existing spell…" she raised the magical tome while speaking and he saw his daughter's magical energy building up while she had a concentrated look on her face._

_In this moment it just clicked in his mind and he understood completely, his grin that formed on his face almost splitting it in two._

_'Yes, my daughter is truly a genius,' he thought, as he looked proudly at his daughter who demonstrate her new way of using magic that no one ever thought about before._

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

"A challenge, Master? Very well, but let me tell you something first, would you?" Robin had been sure that he could teach her a lot, but that he needed to start with the basics of the basics…

...a sly grin formed on his lips.

She looked relieved at him, glad that he was still in high spirits and that he just dismissed the task as some sporting challenge and not as an insult.

"Sure, Robin," she used his name again.

"Then let's start with the basics Illya, the most important thing first," she just nodded looking mildly confused as Robin created a distance between them.

"Lesson Number One: Never_, ever, underestimate a tactician!" _He said in a loud and proud voice while a book materialized in his left hand. It was the same book he held as he had lighted the campfire yesterday.

_'A catalyst to use his magic?'_ It was not unheard of, but unusual nowadays.

She saw how Robin grinned at her with a concentrated look on his face and then she heard him speak only one word before she needed to shield her eyes from a strong gust of wind.

"_**Arcwind!**_"

An explosive noise reached her ears and as she lowered her cover, Robin had vanished.

She just stood there for a moment confused and wildly looking around searching for her missing Servant until she could suddenly hear a louder and louder becoming shout of excitement.

As the shout was at its loudest it suddenly stopped and shortly after, a strong gust of wind crashed against the ground again, whirling up the last bit of snow that had been remained after the first gust and revealed Robin kneeling on the now snowless ground grinning widely at her.

"Found it," he said as he was suddenly in front of her carefully picking her up with one arm so that he wouldn't hurt her by squeezing her injuries.

"Well, it seems as if you didn't needed the 'I'm sleepy' excuse after all to make me carry you again," he said with a sly grin and proceed talking before she could retort anything.

"Close your mouth, don't panic, and keep on tight,"

She instinctively gripped his shirt with her good hand before he even mentioned it and just nodded.

"And lastly, try to enjoy the flight," his cheery grin couldn't be any wider as he positioned himself holding her tightly with one arm while the hand with the book pointed on the ground behind them.

"_**Arcwind!**_"

She again heard only the one word from her Servant before the world seemed to explode in a rush of wind, the surrounding becoming a blur of colors before they settled down and the only thing she could see was the clear blue sky in all his elegance.

She couldn't believe it…they were flying, flying through the air as if shot by a catapult.

Her grip tightened on Robin's shirt, as she starred on in amazement watching the surroundings flying by, her mouth forming a soft smile as the only thing that she could hear over the sound of the rushing wind was the cheerful laughter of the man who held her in his arms. She shifted closer to the warmth of the man's body so that he could hear her and whispered in a gentle and proud tone.

"Passed."

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

**(Update!)**

Spirit: Robin "The Tactician"

Class: Caster

Master: Illyasviel von Einzbern

Alignements: Neutral Good

Strength: D

Endurance: C

Agility: B

Mana: A

Luck: B

Noble Phantasm: ?

**Class skills:**

**?**

**?**

**Personal skills:**

**Companionship: A **

Robin, in life, was not only the Tactician of the Shepherds, the personal volunteer force of Prince -and later- Exalt Chrom, but a friend of each and every one of them.

Regardless of whether it was a wary knight, a lunatic mage, a stalking admirer, a princess from the future or the voice of God itself, he could bond with all of them.

Robin demonstrates his ability to always find things that he and other people have in common and can figure out the source of most people's inner turmoil's in a matter of a few important conversations.

As such it is possible for him to befriend almost anything and everything, if he just tries hard enough and gets the opportunity to talk personal, outside of battle.

_This excludes evil doppelganger from the future, which house a Fell Dragon God in them._

**?**

**?**

**Noble Phantasm:**

**Tactician's Archives: A Tome of One Thousand Spells**

**Rank: ****A (Update!)**

_Type: Anti-Unit, Anti-Army_

_Range: 0-50_

_Targets: 1-999_

A capable swordsman in his own right, Robin's preferred choice of weapon were his many magical tomes he collected and mastered throughout life. The _Tome of One Thousand Spells_ is the crystallization of all the spells Robin ever saw and used, excluded only by dark magic which Robin refuses to use and the Holy '_Book of Naga'_ which he can't access due to being only an improper champion of Naga.

**_?_**

**_?_**

* * *

_**~Invisible Ties of Fate~**_

* * *

_**A/N: Hello, thanks again for reading.  
Well, this Chapter...was something. Kind of a pain in the ass to tell the truth, even if it is only a transition chapter...sure I like many thinks about it, like the Flashback, but the whole chapter didn't flow like it should have. I still hope it was at least a little bit fun to read and it became clear that Robin will NOT just be standing still in fights and shooting Magic without creativity or anything.  
One question...does Illya sound a bit to much like Rin? I mean you can't **_**_expect her to act and react like in the series, because this is not a silent Berserker and there is no Shirou or Rin in front of her which she wants to kill...so yeah.  
_**


	4. Promises of New and Old

**_A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys, but you get the longest Chapter yet in exchange, that is something isn't it?_**  
**_Do you know that I suck at writting dialogue? Because, I do. And wow what do we have here, a Chapter based on dialogue...haaaavvveee fun._**

**_Many thanks to Arrixam for beta reading!_**

_**Edited: 26**_**_/09/2015- __Just some corrections and rephrasings. Changed the Levin Swords rank from 'C' to 'C-'.  
_  
**

* * *

**_~Invisible Ties of Fate~_**

* * *

_**Chapter 4: Promises of New and Old**_

Beams of brilliant sunlight were shining through the many windows of the castle that stood in an almost completely snow-white landscape consisting only of a high and far reaching forest. It was early in the morning and the castle interior was a picture of calm as only the most necessary tasks were completed by a few attenders moving swiftly and soft footed through the castle from task to task, completing them in quietness and leaving the place in peaceful silence.

Or rather it should have been like this, as the picture of peace was abruptly destroyed by a loud rattle followed by a sound of something massive shattering and a heavy object hitting the floor.

All eyes in the castle turned automatically in the direction of the floor the loud noises had come from.

Two Maids on a lower floor just looked at each other before one of them nodded and quickly turned; leaving the other Maid behind, who in turn proceeded to walk into the direction of the racket from before.

Reaching the floor of the commotion, she was welcomed by a state of pure and utter chaos.

The window on her left was completely shattered— shards of glass laying everywhere on the ground— the door on the opposite of the window had seemingly been ripped out of its hinge; laying on the side having broken into several pieces.

But it didn't end just there.

As the Maid moved to the broken door and glanced into the room she was greeted by a scene that let her froze on the spot, a dumbfounded expression forming on her face.

There in the middle of the room, in the remains of what appeared to be a former table, stood Illyasviel von Einzbern wrapped in an old looking dark purple coat. She was standing on some black and white thing, which she had seemingly fixated with a death glare while smiling an evil little smile.

By closer observation the object turned out to be a young man with dark pants and snow white hair who lay sprawled in the debris, smiling up sheepishly at the little girl that stood on his midsection.

"Master, please don't look at me like that," the young man said, the sheepish look on his face slowly morphing into a slight grin. "Think about it, it could have been a lot worse…"

"Is that so? And what would my _lovely_ Servant call worse than being catapulted through a closed window while being _severely_ wounded to the point that said Servant saw it fit to carry me around against my will in the first place?" the small white haired girl answered in an accusing tone which was obvious only feigned, as shown by the mischievously grin on her face.

"Well, first off, we kinda took a closed door with us too after that, but I think only _my_ poor body took the damage from this impact, so no need to lament about this now that you know it, Master," The young man replied while pushing himself in a sitting position, shooing Illya from his body in the process and then started to rub his back theatrical.

"And secondly, I seem to remember that a certain Master of mine quite enjoyed to snuggle against me while I carried her," he continued, his grin now almost splitting his face.

Illyas face flushed red for only the slightest bit of a moment, her eyes shooting open before she quickly composed herself again.

"Oh, has my big and strong Servant hurt himself? Was the evil door too strong of an enemy for him?" Illya asked with an exaggerated display of concern on her face while moving closer to the man, continuing before he could retort anything.

"Maybe…" she spoke, bringing her mouth closer to his ear before resuming slowly in a provoking sounding undertone, still smiling evilly at him.

"…I should take my word from before back then, a 'passed' is certainly too good for someone who can't even control his own ability…"

"Oh you think so Master? I thought my control was pretty good actually…managing to hit a small window of all things…" came the self-confidence retort.

"…and a door," he added, pushing himself on his feet.

As he looked down onto the destroyed remains of the furniture he had sat in only moments ago his sheepish grin returned and he started scratching the back of his head, small glass shards falling out of his white hair.

"Aaaand it seems like a table too…huh…three in a row, I think that's a new record or something…Morgan would be proud,"

"Morgan…? No, I don't care…" she just shook her head while talking more to herself then the man.

"No excuses for your failings then Servant?" Illya again began with a challenging smile and fire in her eyes.

"Really, Master? We didn't talk once till now without you challenging me in some ways… You don't even let me have my fun with some bickering…" he just sighed.

"What a demanding Master that I got there," he paused for a moment before a mischievous smile formed on his face reminiscent of the one the girl often wore.

"But okay Master, if you think that I _failed_ then we can of course _try _again if you want," Illya only managed to look surprised as he picked her up— again— and held her under his right arm before he continued.

"No worries… your wish is my command and I will for _sure_ hit the _castle wall _this time around, Master!"

He turned to the door of the room planning to just walk outside and correct the event from before— which apparently had gone wrong in his Masters eyes, but stopped as he finally noticed the Maid which still stood flabbergasted in the doorway. But before one of them could say even a word they were interrupted by his upset Master who was flailing in his grip.

"Robin let me down! What is it with you and carrying me?! I will murder you in cold blood if you don't…" her angry rant ended abruptly as a second Maid appeared in the doorway of the room and began announcing in a leveled and unemotional manner.

"Lady Illyasviel, the Master demands your immediate presence in his place," she said and looked at Robin.

"Your Servant is to accompany you,"

"Huh, the Master of my Master? Is he a Master too Master?" He blinked as he thought about what he had just said and then pinched the bridge of his nose groaning loudly.

"Great, just great…"

He expected his Master to throw a sarcastic retort back at him or something along those lines.

So, it came as a surprise to him that his Master stayed silent through his rambling and didn't even say something after he finished.

Looking down at her he noticed that his Master hung dead silent in his grip, no flailing, no joke glares, nothing.

Her head hung down the long white hair obscuring her face.

He became instantly worried about his Master for he hadn't seen her like this before.

"Master...?" he began in a soft voice.

The only reaction he got was Illya calmly breaking out of his grip, positioning herself next to him.

His eyes widened as Illya lifted her gaze from the ground starring at the newcomer with only hatred and anger radiating from her eyes.

No, that was wrong.

There was something more in them, but he couldn't quite place it.

He clenched his fists tightly, now studying the Maids before him intently.

Was the Maid the one that was responsible for his Master's lonely and hate filled eyes which had greeted him as he first met her? Unlikely, but still.

Glancing at his Master he tried to read anything helpful from her expression, but was too late as Illya had already stepped forward her back turned to him and was leaving the room.

Both Maids turned to her, seemingly planning to follow his Master.

"_Stay_," came the short and deadly sounding command of the petite white haired girl.

The Maids froze in place, looking at each other before the one that delivered the message spoke up.

"Lady Illyasviel we have the task to accompany you and we are your personal…" she didn't get further as she was interrupted by the ice cold voice of the girl.

"Let me repeat myself only _one. more. time_ and I will paint the walls of this room red with your blood…"

There was no jape in her tone, no exaggerated display of dissatisfaction in her eyes… it was not a play like it had been with him.

She was serious.

Robin just watched the scene with narrowed eyes; his smile long replaced with a frown as he tried to follow the abrupt change in his Masters personality.

The fear was easily visible on the Maids face, but the commitment to her duty let her speak up again.

"But my La—" She was again interrupted as a strong hand grabbed her by the shoulder, the young white haired Servant now standing next to her just shook his head.

"Be silent if you want to live. I don't know what is going on, but my Master is not joking," he said in a tender but demanding tone while watching the back of his Master who had already started to walk away without him.

_'Illya…'_

Her magical energy had flared to incredible highs as she had spoken her threads.

His Master was scarily powerful and had been only seconds away from showing the Maids how exactly she was able to use her power.

He just sighed at the unsuspecting bliss of the Maids who hadn't been able to feel the threat like he had with his Master-Servant connection.

The feeling in his gut told him that the Maids were not the reason for Illya's general turmoil, but were responsible for something more specific.

That meant he didn't need to have a…._nice little talk_ with the Maids…he would just wait until his Master was ready to tell him and would offer his help then.

Still, it was better to at least knew with what he was working and whether the hatred of his Master was only directed onto this Maids or maybe onto the entire castle staff.

So before he started to follow his Master, who was already at the staircase, Robin morphed his scowl in the youthful smile that he so often wore and gave a slight bow with his head while introducing himself to the Maids.

"Name is Robin nice to meet you, could I ask for your names, Ladies?"

Both Maids just blinked at him not expecting such an innocent and friendly question, but answered anyway.

"I'm Leysritt,"

"Stella,"

* * *

~Invisible Ties of Fate~

* * *

Robin's scowl was back in full force as he stood next to his Master, his gaze moving attentive through the room before resting on the old man behind the desk who observed both of them with an unreadable expression.

So, this was the Master of the house and apparently Illya's grandfather or so she had called him at least.

_'Her grandfather…'_ His eyes narrowed at this thought.

It shouldn't surprise him, it really shouldn't.

All the encounters over his lifetime and more importantly his _personal_ experience with his blood related _family_ should have made him immune to such a revelation.

That all the hatred, misery and hopelessness that one could see in his Master's eyes has been caused by her family shouldn't have surprised him.

But it still did.

He had seen how far members of the same family would go; betraying, using and hurting each other…he had seen and experienced it all firsthand over the course of his lifetime.

_But…_

But, he had seen the other side of the coin too.

The warmth and happiness that came with a loving family, be it a family bound by blood or just a fellow band of misfits.

His chest filled with warmth and he closed his eyes for a moment, thinking back to some of the happiest memories in his life.

He remembered them as if they happened just yesterday.

The time his friends were reunited with their time-traveling children, seeing the dried tears of sorrow that had haunted their features being washed away by the fresh ones of joy.

The moment his own child had appeared before him, destroying all the fears and doubts he had held about the future.

And finally, back to the moment someone had extended his hand to him for the first time.

A tender smile formed on his lips as he thought about the radiant smile that the blue haired prince and his little sister had greeted him with, as they reached out to him, giving him purpose, a goal and most importantly a place to call _home_.

No amount of his life time would ever be enough to pay his best friend back…to pay them all back.

They, the Shepherds, had his eternal gratitude. Not even death had managed to break his bonds with them, not the first time and not now.

The best he could do to pay them all back was to show the same kindness to people who were in desperate need of it.

His Master was such a person.

She was apparently used by her family and was completely alone, like he had been once.

But the question that remaind was:

_Why?_

Why her?

A girl as young as her, even if he knew that there was a good possibility that she was not the same age she looked like, didn't deserve to be treated like this.

_No one_ deserved such a fate.

His clenched fist shook in anger and as he opened his eyes again began to observe the interaction between his Master and her grandfather.

Illya had just finished her recap about what had occurred the day before in the forest.

She had spoken in a leveled and emotionless tone and her grandfather had just looked expressionless at her during the whole speech.

Illya was still wounded, but her grandfather hadn't even cared to ask about it.

It made him sick.

The gaze of the old man lingered on him for a second, before fixating solely on his Master.

"Not Heracles or another renowned Heroic Spirit…"

The old man spoke for the first time, his gaze was still expressionless and his tone calm, but Robin could hear the furious undertone that was building up as he spoke and from the slight twitch of Illya's body which he could see out of the corner of his eye, she could too.

"Not even a Berserker, but a _Caster_," the old man almost spat the last word as he slowly rose from his chair glancing menacing at the little girl before him.

"An average hero no one even knows about."

Robin just huffed as the old man glanced his way.

Yes, Illyas grandfather had shown no sign of recognition after she had told him about Robin's true name and title.

He personally didn't really care about the fact that his name hadn't been remembered by history— he wasn't _that_ self-loving, but he took offense to the implication that just because of this he apparently wasn't a worthy Servant in the old man's eyes.

"All the preparations and training and this, this is all you can manage to do?" the strong voice was accusing and focused alone on Illya who acted unnatural timid.

He narrowed his eyes at this, yes he hadn't known his Master for long, but she never struck him as a person who would show fear or was easily intimidated.

She was a strong and stubborn person who didn't want to show her weakness to other people, but there she was, almost cowering and shuddering under the accusing gaze of the old man.

What had he done to her to bring forth such an extreme reaction with just a few words?

"You are a _failure_ like your mother and your traitor of a father was, you truly don't have any value for us."

These words seemed to hit is Master like a sledgehammer to the head, as he saw her eyes tear open and her body going rigid. It seemed that he had just witnessed some of the vulnerability his Master had tried so hard to hide, even from him. As he looked at his frozen Master and saw the hopelessness that glinted in her eyes, he could almost hear the thought that was without a doubt repeating itself without pause in her head at the moment.

_'failure,'_

His fists clenched in anger and he needed all of his self-control to stay calm.

Oh, how much he just wanted to speak up, to just put himself in front of his Master to shield her, to protect her against her grandfather and everything else that would threaten her.

_But_, he couldn't allow himself to just take the easy way out.

The consequences of such an act would be absolutely catastrophic.

Not only would it end pretty _ugly_ for all the people in the castle, but more importantly for the sanity of his Master's mind.

Her mind that would latch onto this protection and would never let go, rendering her unable to ever overcome this weakness.

He couldn't let that happen.

It truly wasn't the right way to solve this situation and he knew that.

Illya didn't need someone who would shelter her against everything bad in the world.

She needed someone who would support her in the time of need, someone who would help her to stand up, to face and beat every challenge the world would throw at them.

She needed a friend, a partner, not a _protector_.

And so, just as people did for him so many times in his previous life before, he decided to take the place of the one that Illya required, strengthening the resolve he already made right after he had for the first time laid eye onto his Master.

He stepped closer to the timid girl lifting his hand up and started ruffling her snow white hair reassuringly, clearing her hair of the little glass shards that remained in her hair from the incident before in the process.

"Ah, sorry Master, but I totally forgot about these little guys, can't let them stay there or you will hurt yourself accidentally," he said as the glass shards hit the ground, each of them with a little different sounding clang.

His first victory came in the slight movement of his Master's eyes which caused their staring and looked at him, now slowly blinking.

Her grandfather just stared at him, but Robin didn't move his eyes from his little Master, didn't even acknowledge that the old man was there.

The old man had nothing to do with his fight at the moment; he was solely the obstacle his Master needed to overcome right now.

And to help someone climb a wall you didn't need to interact or look at the wall you just needed to look at the one you heaved up, to check that he didn't accidentally lost his balance and fell.

As such the old man wasn't important to him, not even in the slightest. Only the still rigid form of his Master before him held any significance right now.

His Master was still searching for her balance and fortunately for her… he was looking up.

Inhaling once deeply he began, hoping dearly that he had already proven himself enough in his Master's eyes or this ordeal would end as a futile attempt.

But he had confided in his Master's ability to use even the few parts of knowledge she had about him to understand his intentions. She was smart like that, he was sure of it.

"Master did you already forget?" His voice was soft and provoking as he starred deep into the ruby red eyes of the white haired girl.

"My coat is pretty important and only the most amazing people and the people I trust have the right to wear it…"

There came no reaction from Illya at his words, only her blinking continued, so he leaned closer to her ear and started to speak in a serious and quite manner.

"…do you think that I would _ever_ give my coat to someone who didn't deserve it? Or that I would give it away just out of _pity_?"

A weak accusing undertone could be heard resonating deep in his voice.

He paused for a moment so that his words would not only reach his Master's ears, but would be understood by her too.

The second victory showed his head, as his Master's body shook itself out of his rigid stance and her posture became more natural and relaxed.

He then glanced back over his shoulder while stepping to the place he had been in before and spoke in a louder and more emotional provoking tone this time.

"And now tell me Illya, how long exactly do you already wear this coat of mine?"

He didn't look at his Master anymore, he now glared at the old man who just blinked at him with an unreadable expression and waited.

_'Illya realize that there is at least one person in this castle that believes in you and your strength,_'

He thought almost begging in his mind while he waited in silence for the resolution his Master would come to.

He hadn't forgotten the words that had called him to this plain, not the massage and not the meaning. He would never, because…the words were important for him too.

"Since the beginning…" his Master's voice reached his ears, it was quiet and it was more as if she spoke to herself instead of actually answering him, but it was enough.

"…I see," These last words were said with a little smile on her face that Robin couldn't see, but he knew that it was there nevertheless.

It worked, he reached his Master. His words hadn't been spoken in vain and neither would be hers.

The last bit of the wall would be scaled by her alone and if she fell…he would be here to catch her.

He smiled to himself at this with an equal little smile that wouldn't be seen by his Master.

'_Now, show me the resolve of the words that called me to your side, Illya.'_

* * *

~Invisible Ties of Fate~

* * *

_'failed,'_

_'useless,'_

The words just wouldn't stop repeating in her shocked mind.

She should have been prepared for this, should have foreseen her grandfather's reaction and how much his words would truly hurt her.

But no preparation lived through her hope that maybe, just maybe her grandfather would praise her or at least be mildly satisfied with her performance.

That this hope had been utterly shattered by now went without saying.

Her only chance for a family, her only chance to achieve her goal to kill the man she hated…it all was lost now.

The family would throw her away, would just dispose of her and more terrifying, would destroy every chance for her to at least fulfill her deepest desire before her death.

She couldn't do anything without the help of her grandfather, without the information only he possessed and purposely held back from her.

Even if she could escape and learn how to travel to other countries, living on her own…there was no possibility for her to figure out where her father lived.

If she was useless for her grandfather then she would get nothing from him, not even a last wish. A human may have the luck to get a last request granted, but she wasn't human, not in her grandfather's eyes at least.

A tool was all she was and if a tool was deemed worthless or broken you just threw it away.

She couldn't even feel rage or hatred about it.

She was just too accustomed to this fact, the fact that had defined the last ten years of her life.

That death would wait for her regardless whether she failed or won the War was something she already knew for a long time and she was fine with it, it didn't scare her.

But, to be stripped of her only chance to at least accomplish her only goal she had in life, was something so terrifying that nothing she knew could compare to it.

As she felt herself falling deeper and deeper in the hopelessness that had claimed her, she suddenly felt a hand starting to gentle ruffle her hair and heard the soothing and friendly voice of her Servant.

She couldn't help but case her starring and looked up at him, meeting his deep hazelnut brown eyes which seem to radiate many different raging emotions at once.

She knew the emotion that was raging at the forefront, stronger and more wild than any of the others.

It was determination.

A determination that burned bright like the sun.

She couldn't stop starring in these eyes, these eyes that let her feel as if his determination was hers too.

He spoke to her, pushed her to understand the truth of her worth, to understand that not everything was lost…because he believed in her from the beginning.

He wanted her to make a decision. A decision he would follow no matter what she chooses, but she could see the challenge in his eyes too. The challenge of not taking the easy way out, but to stand firm and fight for what she believed in.

She didn't miss the silent promise that he would be there for her, if she needed him either.

As she relaxed herself, leaving the shocked state she had been in she could only think about how stupid she truly was.

Didn't she already make her resolve back in the forest?

Didn't she already decide that she would win this War with Robin as her Servant and with no other? Hadn't she already foreseen her grandfather's reaction and had discarded it as not important, because she knew Robins worth already?

Yes, she hadn't failed.

To summon Robin as her Servant could have never been a failure.

She felt how her resolve— that she had lost while being confronted with the man who had controlled her whole life— came rushing back to her.

Yes, he was the only one who could give her the information to accomplish her goals but Robin was the only one she truly could count on to help her achieving them and more important he was the only one she wanted her to help.

She would just need to show her grandfather that, even if she had disappointed him, they were able to win the Grail and that her worth was great enough to give her the information she so desperately longed for.

"Grandfather," Illya surprised the old man by addressing him directly.

Her voice was now full of vigor again, nor was her gaze wavering while starring right into the old man's eyes. The old man just looked back questioningly, not knowing what exactly the Servant had done to change Illya's demeanor this much.

"I agree that I didn't meet your exact expectations, but Robin is now here and nothing will change that. Do you want to throw your only card away before you even know what it is capable of? Just, because you wanted a different card?" Illya just shook her head at this silly notion.

"Robin has already proven himself in my eyes, I tested him and he showed me in turn what he was capable of and what kind of man he is. So, if we need to prove ourselves before you, then just say it, test us and we will show you just how capable we truly are," she starred in the cold eyes of her grandfather, never flinching, never retreating.

She had to convince him.

"I see you developed quite the temper Illyasviel. Is it because of the things the Servant said to you or sprouted it just from the delusional conclusion you apparently came to? Do you truly think that some petty words would change anything? Or that your failure could be easily overshadowed by your new found resolve?" the emotionless sounding, but clearly accusing words of her grandfather surprisingly didn't hit her as hard as she had thought. This was good, because she couldn't allow herself to lose so easily again.

"Is your knowledge really this lacking? Didn't you learn anything from what was taught to you over all those years? Which Servant Classes do exist in the Holy Grail War? Do you not even know about this?" The old man said now in an audible mocking tone, while rising from his chair and moving leisurely to the big window which was located on the side of the room.

_'Is he making fun of me? Such a basic question what is he planning?'_ She didn't seem alone with her thought as she saw Robins brow furrow out of the corner of her eyes, but answered nevertheless.

"Of course I know…Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin and Berserker the seven Classes of the Holy Grail War."

"Tell me how are the first three special and did you already forget for what they stand in the war?" Came the mocking sounding question again, his back was still turned to them while he looked out of the window. His facial features therefore unknown to her or Robin. It again was a basic question which answer she already knew for years.

"Saber, Lancer, Archer…the three Knight Classes…they are said to be the strongest and most balanced Servants in the war and they are known for-"

_'What is the point of this?'_ She thought while a memory suddenly pushed itself to the forefront of her mind…a little fact that was very important but easily forgotten.

"…their high magical resistance…most magic can't beat them, let alone hurt them…" The words came only slowly out of her mouth which felt hoarse all of a sudden, as the meaning of her grandfather's words became very clear in her mind. They were staggering to say at least.

"The Caster class is viewed as the weakest Servant Class in the Holy Grail War simply for the reason that they usually have a problem in hurting even the weaker ones of the three Knights -Lancer and Archer," Her grandfather now again turned back to her, fixating her in his glare while speaking not in a mocking tone, but one that was spoken as if he was a teacher who wanted to utterly destroy a hopeful answer from a pupil with irrefutable facts.

"Now tell me Illyasviel, how do you plan to win the war with your petty words? How do you plan to overcome an enemy such as Saber with your failure of a Servant, if you can't even scratch it?"

She wanted to answer something— _anything!_— because she didn't want to give up again, didn't want to bow her head in defeat just after strengthening her resolve.

_But_. But, she couldn't dismiss that her grandfather had brought up a fact that wasn't debatable.

Even if she believed in Robin, even if he was a capable Servant…how could he beat or even hurt Servants that were immune against his Magic? Were immune against everything his Class stood for? She starred at the ground searching for anything she could say, anything that would maybe disprove her grandfather's words, who in turn just looked at her waiting for an answer that he knew would never come.

"Ah, sorry to interrupt, but old man…did _you_ already forget what my Master said?"

Her Servant's voice broke through the silence, addressing her grandfather for the first time in this conversation and snapped her out of her thoughts that just went around in circles going nowhere.

"What do-" Her grandfather's reply was abruptly cut of as Robin began towering over him looking down onto him with an scowl on his face while continuing in a taunting voice.

"Is your viewpoint really this narrow, are you so blinded by your stuck believes that you only see what you want to and nothing else? Has my Master not already stated that you shouldn't judge me and my ability just based on the reason that you didn't want me in the first place?" He waved his arms through the air to emphasize his standpoint. While first looking at the old man, before locking his eyes with his Master, confidence radiating from them as he again asked her to have trust in him.

"I will not lie to you or my Master by saying that a Servant like Saber who is a truly fearsome enemy will be easy to overcome, but don't just discharge me or my Master as worthless for that matter either."

"Servant, you want to convince me that you can go toe to toe with a Knight Class Servant? What is this foolish notion?"

"Foolish notion? Nothing of sorts, just a justified believe in my own abilities and the _incredible_ boosts that I get from my _capable_ Master whom you so easily brushed aside as worthless," Robin just waved the accusation lazily away a self-confidence grin forming on his face which Illya was already accustomed to see even after only the short time that they knew each other.

"Then tell me Servant, tell me why I should believe any of the nonsense you so easily utter?"

And just then, as Robin's glance lingered on her for only the split of a second. She instantly knew that it was her turn to defend them again.

"Because I know how great your desire for the Grail is grandfather. So I ask you again, do you want to throw your possibility of winning away without even giving us a chance?"

Her voice and face were a mask of seriousness as she, like her Servant, just starred unwavering at the old man before them awaiting his answer.

She knew how much her grandfather wanted to win the Grail and with it clear the Einzbern family of the shame that had befallen them. He had already over lived three Grail Wars and every single failure only added to the shame he wanted to eliminate in the first place.

Not to mention the catastrophes that had been _Avenger_ or the last war where _he_ betrayed them. Yes, to win the Grail should be the most important thing for her grandfather no matter how slim the chance of winning was in his opinion.

"More than fifteen years. More than fifteen years did it take to complete my greatest creation and to unleash all of its potential this time. You want me to just throw it away by letting you participate in the War? That I will lose it without learning from the mistake I made while creating it? So, that you will bring just more shame to us while being utterly annihilated?"

Robin and Illya were both shocked at her grandfather's words each for their own reasons. Illya realized that she had miscalculated. She never would have anticipated that her grandfather's fear for bringing even more shame to the family would become so great, that not to participate in the first place; just to avoid an embarrassing defeat, had become more important than the desperate attempt to win the Grail.

Robin on the other hand narrowed his eyes as he noticed the change in tone of the old man. What had been cold and emotionless or even mocking before sounded now instead strangely focused and he talked like an Inventor who had worked on a masterful project for years that he was very proud of, but where he had made a mistake that he didn't notice and which was now worthless.

The problem was that he didn't talk about some object, but about his Master.

He wanted to hold his temper back, to just solve the actual problem without complicating things for him or his Master so that they could go on with more important topics that needed to be discussed, but he just couldn't.

He couldn't stop the old memories from surfacing as the words of the old man reached his ears. Memories of words spoken long ago, which were very similar to the ones he just heard.

_...You have been born for this purpose and this purpose alone!..._

They had been spoken to him by a man or more accurate; a _monster_, that he for all intends and purposes should have called 'father', but never had and never would.

"Why do you talk about her like that? As if my Master was just a tool you can use and dissect on a whim! Does her life means really so little to you? Even if it is your own granddaughter you are talking about!?"

He refused to believe it; he refused to believe that his Master may have lived through a similar past as he had. A past he had long leaved behind, a past which he remembered only in fragments because of the memory loss that had stroke him some years after he had escaped from _that_ place, the place that should have been his home.

The past which was so cruel, so lonely and grim, that even the fragments which he remembered and the knowledge he obtained through his blood related family, were enough to bring hopelessness and desperation to the forefront of his mind.

He couldn't allow himself to be affected by such old ghosts of the past and pushed them, with the help of his countless happy memories, back to the deepest part of his mind again.

Happy memories he had made over the course of his remaining lifetime…happy memories his Master didn't have, because she still was in the place that tormented her. Even worse, opposed to him…she still had all her memories about everything she had experienced.

"You seem to have some confused ideas, Servant. She is as little a human as you are."

The arrogant and again mocking voice of the old man snapped him out of his gloomy thoughts and a frown formed on his face. What did he mean with 'not human'?

"What are you talking about? There are no other races left in this time apart from humans."

The information a Servant received from the Holy Grail about the current era they were summoned in was perhaps very basic and didn't cover any of the more detailed workings of the modern world, but it gave him a good overview over humanity and the world as a whole. No Demi-humans, as they would be called in this era, like the Taguel or the Manakete still existed on the world. There seemed to be other non-human entities like something that was called 'dead apostles', but they were no race and he could from what he knew easily deduce that his Master wasn't one of them.

"She is an artificial created human, a homunculus. The only thing that prevents me from just throwing her away and creating a new one is that to manufacture and teach one of her quality would, as I have already stated, take at least fifteen to twenty years, if possible to recreate at all."

_'An artificial created human? Something despicable like this was possible?'_ He clenched his teeth, as he was remained about his oldest and most feared enemies. The undead visages of the _Risen _appearing in his mind before him.

_'No, that's wrong,' _he thought, as he glanced to the little girl which stood next to him. If such magic was the reason that his Master was standing before him, breathing, thinking and acting like any human would even having the same emotions, dreams and ambitions…then something like this couldn't be bad.

_'No.' _he thought again as he now starred at the old man before him, his scowl deepening…not the magic was evil, but the ones who uses it.

"Why? What is the reason for such a procedure? You want to tell me that you created _life_ just to throw it away if useless to you?" His voice now almost boiled over with rage as he clenched his fists together, desperately trying to keep the last bit of calm he had with in him.

Yes, not the act of creating such life was despicable, but how this 'man' in front of him was treating life as nothing more than a little kid would treat a toy.

"Robin…" As the almost whispering voice of his Master reached his ears something in him just snapped and he couldn't stop himself anymore from just shouting in rage at the man or maybe monster before him.

"Is that truly the only reason for the existence of my Master!? To be a tool, only to be used as a weapon in this war. Only, for some stupid wish that you are so desperately chasing after!?"

"How dare you! This is not some selfish and feeble wish like a single person would utter; it is for the welfare of the whole Einzbern family!" It seems that his outburst had destroyed the little civilized play that both he and the old man had kept going and both their voices and eyes burned now with rage and anger while starring at one another.

Both of them were standing in for different, yet similar, standpoints and they both were trying to defend something that was important to them.

"The whole? Don`t make me laugh. Isn't my Master a part of this so called _family_ too?"

Robin's words felt as if they were covered in venom as he spat them at the old fool in front of him. It had been a long time since he had loathed someone that he only just meet, this much. Even Grangrel 'the Mad King' hadn't caused the same extreme emotions he felt right now as he had first met the lunatic, but this was probably only because Gangrel hadn't given him personal reasons to hate him…at the beginning at least.

"Illyasviel has the great honor of having the chance to fulfill the greatest wish of the family. That is more than a simple _vessel_ like her deserves in the first place,"

All logic all reason just evaporated as the one single world reached his ears and made all his fears, all his suspicions become terrible reality.

_'Vessel,'_

His body became rigid, his mind almost blank, as the word and meaning echoed in his mind.

_'A vessel like me,'_

They were not just simply similar as he had initially thought.

No, he and his Master were the same.

Created by their family only to be used, only to be sacrificed for something that was deemed greater than a single happy life was.

_'A vessel only created to be sacrificed,'_

The laughing face of the Madman that he would never call father appeared before him.

The face of the dark Wizard Validar, who was mocking him, threatening his friends and his family in the process. The man who had wanted to use him to destroy the world and with it everyone he cared for. The dark Wizard who, in another time another world, had succeeded with his unthinkable goal, plunging the world in eternal darkness.

He tried to suppress the memories again, tried to push them away, but it wouldn't work this time. They didn't just crawl back out of the deeps of his mind to torment him, to remember him about the fate he had just narrowly avoided.

No, the memories came back to shout at him, shouting that he could never let it happen again, that he never again should take chances with something this dangerous. That he should never let someone experience the same fate.

He felt how his last restrains slowly started to crumble as an old, but never forgotten, nightmare of him slaying his best friend played before his eyes.

His eyes narrowed at the old man before him, his gaze becoming deadly. He felt how his hand ever so often became able to hold onto an all too familiar weapon, even if only for the split second that it was in existence.

The occurrence wasn't missed by the two other people in the room as they saw an unrecognizable object flash in and out of existence held in the with anger trembling hand of the Heroic Spirit which venomous glare and rigid stance seemed to radiate a sense of foreboding death.

But, neither of the reactions from the two people were what someone would expect when confronted with the leaking killing intent of a being that stood undoubtedly above any human existence, whether Magnus or not.

"It seems that you don't understand the logic and truth behind my words, so tell me Servant what do you plan to do now? Do you wish to strike me down? Do you wish to strike me down without knowing what that would steal away from your _beloved_ Master in the process?"

The one the killing intent was directed at, just watched on calmly and revealed before unknown information that Robin even in his raging state couldn't easily ignore. Information that the old man apparently had held back, as if he knew that something like this would occur.

Robin's eyes widened as his mind forcefully calmed down to decipher the meaning of the word that had been spoken to him.

_'Illya needs this old man for something? That would at least explain why she didn't escape already like I did,'_ A more calculated anger guiding his thoughts now instead of the raging one before.

There was only one way to decide if the old man's words were just an empty attempt to force a predicament on him or if he spoke a truth that he hadn't seen coming.

"Master?" He turned to his little Master staring right at her, demanding a confirmation or rejection of the information her grandfather had revealed. As his Master lifted her head returning his stare he saw a combination of emotions that he had never seen before in his Master's eyes, there was the determination he already knew of, but there was a deep sadness in them too, as if she was truly sorry for what she would say next.

"I need them, Robin. To achieve my goal is the most important thing for me, if they help me reach it, then I don't care that I'm used as a tool."

Her gaze never wavered as she spoke the affirmative too him, but right after finishing her answer she averted her eyes from his, looking down on the ground her long white hair obscuring her face.

So it was true then, there was something so important for his Master that she didn't care what happened to her as long as she was able to achieve it.

A long sigh escaped him as he was now able to place his anger to the side and realized what just happened.

He truly was an idiot…he had thought that he now knew everything about his Master just because of some information that was, while definitely significant and true, of course not the only thing that played a role in his Master's life. He had let himself be too much influenced by his own negative experience and the fear over the outcome that would occur, if he and his Master _truly_ were the same and she would stay in this place.

In this process had he not only almost killed a man in cold blood, had destroyed something that was more important for his Master then her own well-being, but most important had almost broken his promise that he had made so long ago.

A promise which he had never broken and had sworn to uphold not only for the rest of his mortal life, but for the eternity of his existence.

He cursed to himself, letting himself so easily enraged was not something that happened often.

While he was never as stoic as Frederick the Wary, Robin still was surprised at how easily he had lost his composure.

How very shameful for a proud tactician to lose his mind like this in a battle, but how should he have known that the words that were spoken to hurt his Master would resonate with him this much too?

He now knew what he had to do; end this stupid discussion once and for all, but before that he would ensure that his Master got healed already. It was not like he wanted to leave Illya out of the decisions or anything, but enough was enough.

He had tolerated it for too long that she was in this conversation while her body was in this state. He could overlook it for the most part as a Servant and because of the pride of his Master.

From the viewpoint of someone who was a father too however, had it been long overdue by now. And he of course still wanted the _nice little talk_ with her grandfather.

"As you wish Master, but it seems that there is nothing for you to do here anymore. So, please go and visit a healer at once or I will just carry you there if need be," he said with a little smile, his gaze stern.

"Wha-" Before his surprised Master could retort anything Robin laid one of his hands onto Illya's good shoulder and spoke in an almost-commanding tone.

"Illya, I will finish this. Go."

They just starred at each other for a few seconds, until Illya turned around and walked to the door pushing it open. As the door was halfway open Illya inclined her head and looked at Robin out of the corner of her eyes and spoke her last words before slipping out of the room.

"Don't make me regret my trust in you, Robin."

* * *

~Invisible Ties of Fate~

* * *

As the door shut behind the leaving form of the little girl, the old man who again sat behind his desk his hands folded in front of his chin, looked at the white haired entity before him evaluating it with a calm look in his eyes and then started to speak.

"What do you want Servant?"

"..."

The white haired man just stood there for a moment, his unfocused eyes hinting that his conscious was occupied, probably thinking intensively about something.

"You are everything that is wrong in this world."

He wouldn't admit or show it, but the words that the Servant so suddenly uttered, spoken as if they were facts and with a deadly calm and melancholic voice to add, shocked him for a moment.

"You are a man, who uses and hurts even his own family just to achieve what he wants. Someone who doesn't feels the slightest bit of compassion no matter what he does to the people around him. A person, who lived a long life, but never tried to do something good for the world or the people, if it didn't suit his plans. An old fool who would start a war, if the situation was right, just so that he could achieve his greatest desire." The Servant's gaze wandered to the ceiling his eyes still a little unfocused as he continued to speak.

"You are the embodiment of all the tyrants, all the villains and madmen which my comrades and I fought against…and most important…"

The Servant eyes that had been focused on the ceiling suddenly fixated on him, burning with something he couldn't completely determine, while his voice still was calm as death itself.

"…you are the one that hurt my Master."

"Then why not just kill me? Is your little Master's wish really more important than to bring someone _evil_ like me, to _justice_?" He knew that the Servant wouldn't hurt him; he had already shown that he wasn't willing too. But he didn't completely understood why that was, especially if the Servant had such a personal dislike against him. Was the Servant truly appeased just because he possessed something that his Master wants?

"I would, without hesitation, even after my Masters request to not touch you."

The cold and serious proclamation that he would have ignored the command and wish of his Master, which he seemed to value very much, admittedly did shock the old man this time and he raised an questioningly eyebrow at the Servant.

"But, I made a promise to someone very dear to me a long time ago."

The young man just continued onwards, his gaze indicating that he was lost in his thoughts again, as he glanced in direction of the window, while still being turned towards his listener.

"I promised to help him carry an Ideal, an Ideal that was too heavy for any of us two alone to uphold, because we weren't strong enough for it. You should know that it truly isn't possible for just anyone to hold such a beautiful ideal. Nor was it possible for us with our weak and bloodstained hands…but together, together was it something we could accomplish, something only the two of us could manage. That's why I took one half of the Ideal on my shoulders, while my friend took the other and we carried it through our life honoring it by upholding it in the most Important times that would determined the fate of the world."

He must admit that he, again, was surprised as the face of the Servant suddenly fell…his calm look replaced with one of sadness and his strong voice carrying a similar undertone as he now visible struggled to keep a composed demeanor.

"An Ideal that had been carried by one single woman. A woman who would smile even if laughed at, thrown at with stones, or being mocked at by her enemies. Who never regretted to hold onto her Ideals, never complained, no matter how heavy they became. Whose noble death ended a war, moved the hearts of a whole nation and…and whose death let a single pair of siblings cry out in incomprehensible pain and sorrow," The white haired Servant let out a long and sad sounding sigh, before again establishing eye contact with the old man.

"She didn't even live a third of your or my lifetime, but she was a greater person than either of us will ever be."

His eyes were now focused and burned with very clear emotions: gratitude, admiration and strangely enough a shimmer of gladness.

"A truly inspiring story, but what is the point in telling me this?"

The young man just let out an exhausted sounding sigh at the question he undoubtedly had expected from the beginning.

"I wanted you to know who you had to thank that you are still alive, wanted you to see which meaning something can carry that doesn't exploit people, but gives everything to help and protect them, to make the world a better place."

"How noble of you, Servant," The retort of the old man wasn't mocking, but it didn't sound sincerely or convinced either.

"And I must confess that I had the naïve hope that maybe, just maybe my words would reach you, but I'm well aware that this was a futile attempt on my part." The white haired man just shrugged as he explained the reason he himself saw as pointless.

"Still, this is something that belongs to her Ideal too, to give everyone a second chance if he deserves it or not…"

"…So let me make true on my promise and give you a warning and a request. Case your aggression against me and my Master, don't hamper us in our quest to claim the Grail and act as an ally and not an enemy, then we will have no reason to start a war…" His voice was solemn and he even offered something that resembled a smile as he spoke the words that were meant as a threat, but as a sincerely peace offer too.

"_But,_"

The whole world seemed to stop and grow silent as the one ice cold word was spoken, the one deadly movement of the Servant was completed and the one glare that promised something worse than death was directed at the old man, who had drawn all the long forgotten hatred of the Servant upon him.

"If you for whatever reason hurt my Master _ever_ again, then we _will_ meet on the battlefield."

The old man still looked on calm, as he held his breath at the almost unbearable tension that had seemingly floated the whole room, while glancing at the sharp and shiny object that was placed just a hairsbreadth away from his throat.

"…and better be aware…that I _never_ have and _never_ will show any mercy to an enemy that chooses to attack me or my comrades."

With these last threatening words, the young man drew his outstretched arm back and with it the sword that he had placed at the throat of the old man in front of him only seconds ago. The sword looked strange, it had the length of a one handed long sword, its hilt was golden and the blade wasn't just straight or curved…it was waved.

"Hence the advice was spoken and my promise is fulfilled…don't make me regret my choice old man," he said in an offhand manner as he turned to the door rubbing his head, the sword already dematerialized, thus lifting the tension in the process that had held the room in an iron grip.

"Servant..." He stopped, already one hand at the door, as he looked back over his shoulder at the old man who had spoken up again.

"The words I spoke about you being the Servants with the smallest winning chance were no mere talk and you are aware of that too," It was a short and calm statement that didn't need any remarks, but he gave on anyway.

"Heh, who do you think stands before you right now? If the odds of the upcoming battle stand against us then I just need to tip the scales in our favor, that is what a tactician is there for in the first place," A cheeky grin formed on his face and his eyes burned with absolute self-confidence as he crossed eyes with the old man once more, before turning to the door, leaving one last declaration behind.

"…and it just so happens that I'm one of the greatest."

* * *

**_~Invisible Ties of Fate~_**

* * *

Robin just stood there in the corridor for a moment, after the door closed behind him. He then let out a long sigh before he seemingly began speaking to thin air.

"But on the other hand what am I worth as a tactician if no one follows my orders in the first place?" he made an exaggerated shrug and shook his head quizzically then turned to the pillar on his right and continued in an easygoing manner.

"…Right, Master?"

Out of the shadows of the pillar stepped his now pouting Master who had seemingly forgotten about the Master-Servant connection and thought that her eavesdropping would go unnoticed.

"Who would listen to a self-convinced buffoon like you?" Illya just huffed, still seemingly flustered at being so forgetful. Yet, it didn't last long as the mischievously smile he already was accustomed to began forming on her face, her ruby red eyes shining with delight.

_'Uh-Oh,'_ was the only thought that came to his mind before his Master began to talk with an evilly sweet tone.

"Well you arguably did somewhat good work with convincing my grandfather, but that is probably more so because you are the Servant of such an _capable_ Master, isn't that right Robin?" He again just sighed as he looked into the smiling face of the little girl who walked besides him, realizing that this must be how his Master said thanks and that it would be the closed it would ever get to the real thing.

"_Thanks,_"

The unexpected and silent spoken words from the little girl startled him so much that he stopped walking for a moment and proceeded to just blink at her back. Illya meanwhile walked onwards as if nothing had happened.

_'Or I hear it after all.'_ Why did he always get stuck with the hard to grasp or downright weird ones? _'Well, Birds of a feather flock together, don't they?'_ He just grinned at this thought, before he began to hurry, trying to catch up with his Master who seemingly loved to just leave him behind in this big and branched castle.

It had been a very unpleasant conversation with the old man which had cleared as much questions as it had brought new ones up. But they had achieved their main goals for now. His Master would have the change to pursue her still unknown goal and he had delivered the warning to the old man which he meant quite serious. But, those things weren't important anymore or at least not for the moment. The thing, the question that plagued his mind right now was one that needed an answer as soon as possible at that. It was something that was absolutely essential for the health of his mind and body.

_Just when exactly would he get his coat back?_

* * *

**_~Invisible Ties of Fate~_**

* * *

**(Update!)**

Spirit: Robin "The Tactician"

Class: Caster

Master: Illyasviel von Einzbern

Alignements: Neutral Good

Strength: D

Endurance: C

Agility: B

Mana: A

Luck: B

Noble Phantasm: ?

**Class skills:**

**?**

**?**

**Personal skills:**

**Companionship: A **

Robin, in life, was not only the Tactician of the Shepherds, the personal volunteer force of Prince -and later- Exalt Chrom, but a friend of each and every one of them.

Regardless of whether it was a wary knight, a lunatic mage, a stalking admirer, a princess from the future or the voice of God itself, he could bond with all of them.

Robin demonstrates his ability to always find things that he and other people have in common and can figure out the source of most people's inner turmoil's in a matter of a few important conversations.

As such it is possible for him to befriend almost anything and everything, if he just tries hard enough and gets the opportunity to talk personal, outside of battle.

_This excludes evil doppelganger from the future, which house a Fell Dragon God in them._

**Divinity: D- ****(Update!)**

Being a former vessel of an evil God and acting as an unofficial champion for a holy one, Robin's legend is not capable of untying itself completely from being associated with a deity and such he retains some divine affinity. This causes him to be more affected by weapons and abilities that specialize at affecting divine creatures, whether these effects are positive or negative.

**?**

**Noble Phantasm:**

**?**

**Tactician's Archives: A Tome of One Thousand Spells**

**Rank: ****A  
**

_Type: Anti-Unit, Anti-Army_

_Range: 0-50_

_Targets: 1-999_

A capable swordsman in his own right, Robin's preferred choice of weapon were his many magical tomes he collected and mastered throughout life. The _Tome of One Thousand Spells_ is the crystallization of all the spells Robin ever saw and used, excluded only by dark magic which Robin refuses to use and the Holy '_Book of Naga'_ which he can't access due to being only an improper champion of Naga.

**Levin Sword, _Thunder bringing Blade:_ C- ****(Update!)**

**Type: Anti-Unit**

**Range: 1-6**

**Targets: 1-4**

While Robin wielded many swords in his life not one of them was as familiar and trusted as the magical thunder sword, known as _Levin Sword_. Forged not as a unique weapon, but still as one of high quality and magic enchantment the _Levin Sword_ further supported Robins already high affinity for thunder magic.

* * *

**_~Invisible Ties of Fate~_**

* * *

**_A/N: Wow that was long...and angsty...lol._**

**_Okay hands up, how many people actually remembered that Sella and Leysritt _****_are supposed to be dead in this story? No one? thought so._**

**_I hope everything made sense and the reactions of the characters were _**_**justified and in character. I tried to build every reaction up as good as possible, but like I said I kinda suck at writting dialogue.  
**_

_**And to write Old Man Acht is a pain in the ass, because he just never appears anywhere and the only things I know about him are from the wiki...so yeah I just tried to make him as cold as possible and well, an asshole, but with some justifications.**_

_**For all the FE:A fans, yes, yes Emmery is dead. No spotpass 'oh she lives'-thingy here. Her death was way to meaningful in my eyes to just bring her back. It made sense game-wise so that you can get some more conversations with her, but it was a no-go story-wise in my eyes.**_

_**This Chapter really was a beast and I would love to hear from you if it worked or if you didn't feel anything, feel free to let a Review here with your opinion on the Chapter and we will see us next time.**_

_**Kimran out.**_


	5. Update and the affair of things

Hello fine readers, I have some good and some bad news for you.

The bad news? Well, this isn't a new chapter, sorry.  
The good news on the other hand? Well, I'm not dead.

Why didn't I update this story since April? (Holy fuck! Since April!)

Well, the short answer? Real Life…yeah, it sucks sometimes.

The slightly more detailed answer?

1\. Exams/Finals

2\. New Job

3\. Going to University

4\. Writers Block

5\. Tired, tired…so tired.

Pick three of the reasons you like, and get the two remaining ones regardless.

So, I now have a little bit more time again, even if the major work load from the first semester has yet to come, and I plan to update this story in the coming weeks.

But, there the other bad news, that I didn't tell you about, comes into play.

I really haven't written ANYTHING over this hiatus, so while I did think a lot about this story and have now almost everything fully planned out, even with some fresh ideas which I didn't have back in April, I do have nothing on paper.

Only in my head and on notes, of course.

That means chapter 5 is at shining 0% and I obviously didn't improve my English one bit in my absence, rather the contrary actually, so just going from 0 to 100 by just jumping at Chapter 5 wouldn't be the best idea.

Therefore I plan to go over the 4 older chapters first, to iron them out a little bit.

While I did not improve since then, I can now look at what I wrote from a different and distant angle. For this the long break was very helpful.

I will not rewrite these chapters (so you don't need to read them again), but I will try to correct some older mistakes and rephrase some things here and there.

I already worked on the first two chapters in the last days and will continue with the other two.

I think this will be a good exercise to get back into the swing of things.

So, if you by any chance read my story again or if you just now read it for the first time and you noticed something that is really wrong in your eyes, be it grammar, phrasing or something else, then please feel free to tell me.

I can't improve my English without someone pointing out my flaws.

You evil native English speakers who take this shit for granted, meanies. Haha^^

So, yeah thanks for reading and sticking with my story till now.

Kimran out.


End file.
